


Eyes Only for You

by waterproofbacon



Series: Eyes Only For You [1]
Category: No. 6 - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Boys In Love, Canon - Anime, Falling In Love, Fluff, I'm aware that the chapter titles are too damn long, M/M, Mild Language, My First Fanfic, Nezumi is a dork too tbh, Shion is a dork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:09:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4115047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterproofbacon/pseuds/waterproofbacon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a world where people are born with two different colored eyes, one is their natural eye color and the other is their soul mate’s natural eye color. When a person makes eye contact with their soul mate, each person's eyes lose their soul mate’s color and become a pair of their own natural color.<br/>Shion is in a bit of a bind. No one in his school has a red or a black eye and he has no idea which eye color belongs to him, making the search all the more difficult. Not that it bugs him too much; he’s far too worried about the next test coming up…<br/>Nezumi is the new student with a bad reputation. He couldn’t care less about finding his soul mate, he’d rather spend his time reading Hamlet or finding a way to get people to stop talking about him.<br/>With nothing in common but the color of their eyes, neither has any idea what is in store.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Voice You Simply Can't Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪And like a dream that won't come true  
> A painted picture that's still incomplete.  
> There's so much left for me to do  
> But I can't start until we meet.  
> Still you'll see me smile down the street.  
> 'Cause in the puzzle that's my life  
> You hold the final piece.  
> I'm reaching out to find you.♪
> 
> -Puzzle by Y. Chang
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

It all began when Mari got her eye back. One day she had one brown eye and one gold eye, as she'd been born with. The next, she'd paraded through the school with a pair of matching gold eyes all the while holding hands with Hide, a shy upperclassman with his own pair of soft brown eyes.

They were the talk of the school.

After all, they were the very first couple in Shion's year to meet their Other, their soul mate, through sheer force of will. Until Mari, no one had invested tons of energy into finding the person they were destined to be with. They all just went with the flow and assumed it would happen when it happened, as it did with their parents.

However, this girl had sparked something. Not having the patience to wait for her partner to find her, she had sought him out herself, making eye contact with every person in the school until she found her missing half.

This was now the newest trend, and soul mate matching rates had never been higher.

These thoughts, though meaningless to Shion, occupied the white-haired boy's mind as he sat across from his best friend Safu in their usual lunch spot out on the school courtyard. She was busy complaining about something her first period teacher assigned but Shion couldn't pay her story much attention. Instead, his red and black eyes followed a freshman with curly, pale brown hair who was clearly trying to find her Other. To Shion, she looked borderline desperate, but he still admired her for doing what he was far too shy to do.

"-on. -ion. Hey! Shion!" Shion blinked and moved his eyes back to a rather annoyed Safu. Her brown and blue eyes sat beneath a pair of furrowed brown eyebrows.

"Geez, are you even listening?"

"Yeah, of course.” Shion immediately responded. He tried to play it cool and hide any notion that he had been doing just about everything but listening to her, however knowing Safu, it wouldn’t do anything for him.

“Then what was I just talking about?” a rather annoyed Safu interrogated. She had one of her eyebrows situated so high that Shion thought they might lift right off of her face with a little effort.

“You were talking about that new project for World History." Shion stated confidently.

Safu signed, "No, that was five minutes ago."

"Oh."

"I was _trying_ to ask you if you've found anyone with one of your eye colors yet."

Shion frowned and blew a stray lock of snow-white hair out of his face. "Nope. Nobody so far."

"Seriously? There's gotta be someone here with at least one of them. There are plenty of people here with rare eye colors, how hard can it be to find someone with a red or a black eye?"

"I don't know, but it'd sure be a lot more comforting if someone fitting that description would show up so that I know I'm not destined to be a soul mate with my reflection."

"You're not going to be a soul mate with yourself, you're too pretty for that. Besides, if that happens to you then that means it could happen to me too and I'm not even going to consider that to be a possibility."

Shion smiled at his best friend and took a bite of his sandwich. “Please,” he said between chews, ”You and I both know you’re going to find your fantastically dashing soul mate, get married, have 3 genius kids, and grow old together.”

“You know it,” she agreed with a flip of her short brown hair, “Oh, don’t forget the part about me winning 2 Nobel Peace Prizes and going on to make a name for myself as a major political figurehead,”

“How could I ever forget? You’ve already named me as your personal secretary/bag-carrying slave,” Shion chuckled.

“You’ve got that right. And you’d better do a good job or I’ll have to throw you into my mansion’s dungeon.”

Shion rolled his eyes in response. Just then, a group of girls walked past their table. They were all huddled closely together and talking very quickly. Shion was only able to catch short snippets of their conversation. “ _…new kid…delinquent?...just moved…they say…total bad boy...pretty hot too…burned his last school down…_ ”

Shion turned to his best friend who also doubled as the gossip-gatherer. “Hey, Safu. What’s this about a new kid?”

Safu’s brown and blue eyes lit up as an incredulous look took over her face, “You mean you haven’t heard?”

“No, heard what?”

“Honestly, you have _got_ to put more effort into keeping up with the news.” She placed a hand to her temple for dramatic effect. Shion merely shrugged and waited for her to continue.

“His name is Nezumi West and he transferred here from out of state. Rumor has it his record is so long he has to have multiple folders to hold all of the moral injustices he’s committed. People are saying the reason he moved here is because he was expelled from his old school and then he _burnt it down_ for revenge. Basically, he’s the textbook definition of a bad boy and is total bad news. Some of the girls are saying that he’s super hot, but all you should think about is staying far away from him.” Safu looked dead straight into his eyes when she said the last part.

Shion opened his mouth to tell her that yes, he could take care of himself and would stay out of trouble, but Safu spoke up before he had a chance, “I mean it, Shion. I know how you are. You’ll be all ‘I’m sure he’s just misunderstood. He probably wants a friend who will accept him for who he is,’” she clasped her hands together and batted her eyelashes while speaking in an overly high-pitched and dramatic voice.

“I don’t talk like that.”

“Whatever. The point is, whatever you do, _stay away from Nezumi_.” She picked up a french fry and waved it in his face for extra emphasis before popping it in her mouth.

“Fine, I’ll stay away from him.” Shion submitted with a resigned sigh. It wasn’t like he was going to lose anything by avoiding one person he’d barely heard about.

The girl narrowed her eyes, “Pinky promise?”

“Are we five?”

Safu furrowed her eyebrows, “I won’t believe you unless you pinky promise.”

Shion smiled and took his friend’s outstretched pinky, “I pinky promise.”

Safu flashed Shion a smile of her own just as the bell rang, “That’s more like it! Now c’mon, we’ve gotta get to class.”

“Oh yeah, we have a lab today.” Shion recalled with a grin.

“Wanna be my lab partner?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

The two friends walked arm in arm to their chemistry class, grinning while leaving a trail of laughter and bad science jokes in their wake.

* * *

 

An hour later, Shion was walking briskly through the halls with hall pass in hand. AP chemistry had been all fun and games until one of his classmates had bumped into him and caused him to spill the mystery solution all over his arms. The same mystery solution that had sulfur as the main component. The same mystery solution that made him smell like he’d been hanging out with skunks for the past day and a half. He could feel the hairs inside his nose curl back in pure disgust.

He pushed into the swinging bathroom door and moved straight to the sinks. He got 4 pumps of soup on his hands scrubbed his arms vigorously all the while praying that the awful-smelling substance wouldn't hang around him all day. While commenting that this kind of thing only happened to him, he turned off the faucet and faintly registered the sound of the stall behind him unlocking.

"Hey," came a voice from behind him.

Shion paused and glanced behind his shoulder to find a male with long, dark hair. "Hi."

* * *

Today had absolutely sucked for Nezumi. He'd come to this new school in a rarely optimistic form only to get snacked in the face with his reputation. All of his teachers assumed he was a delinquent before they'd even met him and were annoyingly wary of every move he'd make. The students, having read the vibe, also desired to keep their distance. Those that didn't stay back with the others backed off after catching a glance at his eyes.

Red and black was a foreboding and extremely rare color pair that, while cool, didn't help reduce Nezumi's unapproachable atmosphere. Most people got freaked out byseeing the two colors together, though as to why, Nezumi could never figure out.

He was convincing himself that he could make it through the whole day when some idiot in art class had slipped and dropped and entire bottle of paint all over his black shirt. The teacher had insisted that Nezumi go to the bathroom to try to clean up, despite Nezumi’s insistence that he was fine. He chalked it up to the teacher just not wanting to deal with him.

Not like he was complaining. He doubted he would get too much done today anyway, and it would be nice to get a few minutes to himself. It was only after he left the classroom that he realized he had no idea where the bathrooms were.

Shrugging, he resolved to pick a direction and walk until he either found where he wanted to go or got hopelessly lost. _Whichever comes first_. He smiled ruefully and started down the hallway.

Luckily, it wasn’t too far away, he was pretty sure he could find his way back as well. This bathroom was nicely secluded and relatively unused by the look of things- Nezumi doubted anyone would come here, so he decided to wet a few paper towels and clean his shirt in one of the stalls.

As he wiped the paint off, he considered ditching the rest of class and going home early. Things had clearly already started out awfully and it wasn’t looking like it would be getting any better either. There was nothing he could do about the false rumors that people had chosen to buy into. With luck he might even manage to transfer out and move on to another school.

_But that would just be me running away. I can’t do that forever._

Hell, he didn’t know what to do. But he figured he may as well put a little more effort in to finish the day and go from there.

He glanced down at the clock on his phone and sighed. His shirt was as clean as it was going to get and he needed to head back or risk tarnishing his already crappy reputation even further.

He opened the stall door reluctantly and noticed a small, lanky boy scrubbing his hands at the sinks in front of him. “Hey,” he greeted on a whim, aiming for nonchalance but noting the slight hopeful tone that had made its way into his voice instead.

“Hi,” said the boy, his eyes still on his wet hands. He shut off the faucet and turned around. However, when he saw Nezumi, his face fell and, like everyone else that Nezumi had encountered that day, muttered a hasty excuse and fled as if he was prey about to be eaten.

The bathroom door slammed shut, the sound echoing off the tiled walls through the otherwise silent room. Nezumi was completely alone. He walked up to the sink and peered into his reflection on the mirror, propping his hands against the side of the sink and leaning in close.

A pale boy with long, charcoal hair that was tied back stared back at him. He had one deep black eye and one blood red eye- the color of his so-called “soul mate”. Nezumi wasn’t sure if he bought into the whole finding your other half thing, but for now it wasn’t posing a problem so he ignored it. He was skinny, always had been, and was dressed in head to toe black clothes. His lips, thin and light pink, were turned up in a typical half-grin state. He blinked at himself and sighed once more, “Time to get back to it, I guess,” he whispered to his reflection.

Tossing his used paper away, he pushed his way through the swinging door and out into the hallway.

* * *

Shion smiled as he instantly recognized Inukashi. Standing at a shorter height than Shion, Inukashi was a tanned and thin figure with long, dark hair. Though lacking in the vertical advantage category, Inukashi made up for the lack of mass with the sheer size of his mouth. He had known his fair share of detentions and suspensions from scathingly witty insults alone. He was also the most tactfully honest person he knew (the most honest being Safu).

“I’m actually pretty surprised to see you here. I’d totally pegged you as a person who didn’t leave the classroom unless the period was over.” Inukashi grinned.

“Well you would be right about that. I spilled sulfur onto myself in a chem. lab and since it will make me smell worse than pickles in a heat wave, I came here to try to get it off.”

“Was that what I smelled? I just assumed the janitors had skipped out on cleaning this bathroom like they do with the one by the art room.”

“There’s a bathroom by the art room?”

“Yeah, it’s poorly placed and well-hidden so not many students go there, but it’s still stocked and functional. It’s also a lot easier to get to than to walk all the way to the other end of the hallway.”

“Huh, I guess I’ll look for it next time. Thanks.” Shion smiled.

Inukashi returned it, “No problem.”

Shion wiped his hands on a paper towel before disposing of it properly, “Well, I’d better get back before my partner blows something up. It was nice to see you,”

“You too. See you around.”

And with that, Shion breezed out into the hall and back to his class without a hitch.

* * *

There were a little less than five minutes left to the period, so the halls were blissfully empty of people who would cower in fear of him. Nezumi found his way back to his classroom with ease- he had always had a natural knack for things like direction and navigation. He put his hand on the doorknob but paused as the display case on the wall caught his eye. Not horribly concerned about putting off class for a little longer, he moved to examine the art within the case.

The main focus was pastel drawings of animals, it seemed. Hanging monkeys, running horses, and smiling dogs stared back at him; each so lifelike they seemed to jump straight from the page. One in particular, the peacock in the center of the display, had held onto his heterochromatic eyes for a lengthy time.  
The vibrant greens, blues, and violets blended to create a vast array of color while still remaining independently distinguishable. Its spread feathers were incredibly lifelike and made the drawing rather kingly and royal just like an arrogant peacock.

Right when Nezumi thought to look for the name of the artist, a flash of red registered from the corner of his vision. His gaze shifting to the far right, Nezumi was faced with…

At first, he couldn’t tell what it was at all. In all honesty, it looked like a kindergartener had gotten a hold of a red crayon and had gone to town on an unsuspecting sheet of paper. Nezumi tried to look away, but like with a train wreck, his eyes remained glued to the artistic disaster. Upon further inspection, the dark-haired boy found what he _thought_ was supposed to be a tail and a pair of ears.

 _Is this supposed to be a cat?_ Nezumi wondered incredulously. He stared at the artistic nightmare for a few more minutes before remembering that he had to get back to class.

He stole one last glance and, chuckling to himself, strolled back into class just as the bell rang.

* * *

Shion made it back to his class with just enough time to finish the lab and complete half of the homework calculations. Safu assured him that he didn’t smell like sulfur anymore but he remained self-conscious about it as he walked down the halls with her to his last class for the day. Though they didn’t share their last period, the classrooms were fairly close to each other, causing Shion and Safu to make a habit of walking together.

“Oh hey, the new art gallery is up,” Safu noted as they passed the art room. She slowed to a halt in front of the display case, brown and blue eyes widening as a smile stretched across her face. “Animals this time, very nice. Oh! Look at Saika’s peacock! It looks so cool!”

Safu pulled Shion over and pointed at said peacock. He had to admit, it was a very impressive drawing. A math and science nerd like him could never make something as good as that- a fact which Shion happily acknowledged…but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

Suddenly, Safu burst into a fit of laughter, her index finger pointed at a single picture towards the bottom. “Shion! Look!” she exclaimed between bouts of laughter,

“Your picture is here too! Hahaha! What even is that?”

“It’s Mochi.” He explained.

“You mean Mochi, my cat Mochi?”

“Yeah.”

More laughter. “You do realize that Mochi is an orange cat, right? Not an amorphous red blob?”

Shion smiled sheepishly while scratching his head, “Yeah, well the orange pastel was being used and I figured I could save myself from wasted time by improvising with red.”

“That is so like you,” she commented with a happy sigh, “C’mon, Picasso. You’ve got an English class to get to.”

* * *

To Shion, English class was an enigma. Just like with art, Shion desired to be exceptional at it, but it forever eluded him- in fact, he felt as if something was prohibiting him from such.

So when his teacher declared that the entire class period would be devoted to a creative writing exercise, Shion felt utterly lost.

The white-haired boy looked up from his blank paper and dully observed the room. The air was silent save for the frantic scratching sounds from the pencils of his hunch-backed classmates. The sounds reminded him of rats scurrying across a wood floor. A glance at the clock revealed that he’d been staring at his paper for a little under half an hour.

He wanted desperately to write something beautiful on his paper while conveying emotions with just his words. However, every time he tried it ended up sounding stiff and robotic, carefully structured and formulated but lacking any voice or emotion.

Shion scrubbed his hand over his face and softly sighed. There was half an hour left to the period. If he didn’t start soon, the class would end and he’d have to turn in a blank paper with his name on it- not exactly the best option.

Okay, he was clearly thinking about too much, that much was clear. _So maybe I should do the opposite._ Maybe he shouldn’t think about it at all. Convincing himself it was crazy enough to work, Shion began to remove himself from everything.

_Closing his multi-colored eyes, Shion pictured himself in the old study of his house. The walls were lined with bookshelves that were all overflowing with tomes of many genres. Numerous other books lay open on top of the small desk in the far corner while others simply sat in piles on the floor. The windows were currently open, allowing rays of sunlight in and the musty, book-scented air out- his favorite scent. He could hear birds singing from somewhere outside and, if he concentrated hard enough, his mother toiling away in her bakery one level down._

_Feeling completely comfortable, the boy sat down at their antique grand piano, the piano stand squeaking beneath him as he shifted into a good place. Taking a deep breath in, he placed his fingers on the slightly yellowed keys and began to play a calming tune._

Shion lifted his pencil to his paper and began to write, his eyes remaining closed as his dream continued.

As his fingers danced lively over the keys of the instrument, words flowed onto his paper. Shion lost trace-like dream as he floated through his trance-like daydream.  
He was interrupted, however, by the sound of the last bell of the day. Shion snapped out of his dream and looked back at the clock. What had seemed like mere seconds had actually been half an hour. His eyes widened when his gaze found his paper. His paper, once stark blank, was now filled with words that didn’t seem to belong to him, but were most certainly in his handwriting.

Just as the boy began to read whatever he’d written, the teacher came by and collected his paper from under him.

“Ah! Sir! Just a moment please!”

“I’m sorry Shion but time is up. Maybe you’ll consider doing less sleeping and more writing next time.” The teacher frankly stated.

Shion, figuring there was no use arguing with the teacher, gathered his things into his bag and swiftly existed the classroom but paused when he got into the hallways

He could either leave on time and get home with plenty of time to finish his homework and study for the calculus quiz tomorrow, or he could turn right to the music wing and play his newest piece on the school’s fancy piano.

After properly weighing his options he resolved to turn right, reasoning that he’d have plenty of time for school assignments later.

With music folder in hand, Shion shuffled in the direction of the choir room where the piano was kept, humming softly the whole way.

He was a beat away from turning the knob when a voice from within the room pierced through the silence. Shion didn’t recognize the song that the boy in the room was singing, but it made him _feel_. As he listened, his heart leapt and his stomach let all its butterflies fly free. Goosebumps spread across every patch of his skin and chills slid up and down his spine before skittering across the rest of his body in waves.

He removed his hand and wordlessly pulled out his phone, quickly tapping on the recording app to capture the voice.

For some reason, he couldn’t manage to move his body anymore than that- he couldn’t leave or even go into the room to see who was singing. All he could manage was stand in front of the door with a wide, terribly foolish smile on his pale face.

The mystery voice, a tenor by the sound of it, glided easily through phrases, hitting high notes like it came natural and weaving in between dynamics perfectly. It was then that Shion noticed that this person was unaccompanied. No piano, no second voice, it was _just_ the one person and yet Shion was feeling all of these things. As the music wrapped around his body like a blanket, he pictured himself playing piano along the singer. For some reason, even though he knew nothing about the person other than their voice, Shion felt very right.

All too soon, the song ended and silence dominated the air once again. Shion finished recording and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He swallowed the ball of nerves that had suddenly formed in his throat as he reached out to the doorknob again, turning it this time and Cautiously going inside.

But there was no one.

Red and black eyes settled on the exit on the other side of the room that led outside. Shion crossed the room in a hurry and pushed open the door. Sunlight harshly hit his eyes, a clear shift from the darker fluorescent lights within the school. Squinting, he scanned the space outside but there was no one.

The mystery voice had disappeared.

His heart fell as thin lips fell into a straight line. Realizing there was no point in standing outside, he re-entered the school and closed the door.

Multi-colored eyes fell on the piano as an idea popped into his head. He would make a piano accompaniment for the song he’d heard. Maybe if he heard the voice again, he’d be able to play it for him.

New vigor pumping through his veins, the boy stuffed his music folder in his bag and exited the school with a bounce to his step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing this chapter I pictured Shion listening to the person play "All of Me" by John Legend. The first time i heard it, I immediately pictured Nezumi singing it for Shion after Nezumi returns while Shion bawls his eyes out. It's such a pretty song and I feel Shion is enough of a sap to get emotionally moved by it :P


	2. Cups of Tea and Drops of Spring Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪And at last I see the light,  
> And it's like the fog has lifted.  
> And at last I see the light,  
> And it's like the sky is new.  
> And it's warm and real and bright  
> And the world has somehow shifted.  
> All at once, everything looks different  
> Now that I see you.♪  
> -I See the Light, Tangled Soundtrack
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Mrs. Bragunier actually exists! She's my english teacher this year! I love her so much that I decided to put her in my story, however I already had an English teacher character so she got to be the music teacher. I think this wound up working better actually- she has just the right personality to be liked by both Shion and Nezumi.  
> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially the very last part ;)  
> Thank you all so much for your nice comments!!! They make me more confident about what I'm doing :) I can't wait to show you all the next bout of craziness that is coming Shion and Nezumi's way.

Shion came in the next day half tired and half pumped, a combination that he hadn’t realized could happily coexist until then.

He’d stayed up the entire night working on writing the piano part for the song the mystery voice had sung the previous day and so far it was turning out fantastically. He had the opening of the song and the first chorus complete and the only thing running through his mind was finishing the rest.

Shion floated through his classes, humming the chorus line under his breath, tapping out notes on the table with his pencil, and drawing music in the margins of all of his papers. He took decent notes, but his head was clearly not pondering how to use the quadratic equation like he was supposed to.

Half way through the day, Safu and Shion were walking to their 4th period class. For Shion, that meant calculus. Having a natural affinity for the subject and having already read three chapters ahead of the rest of the class, Shion was fully prepared to pay little attention.

He wanted to focus on more important things- like the song, or the voice, or the person whom the voice belonged to. The more he thought about the song, the more he’d begun to wonder about who had been singing the day before. Whoever he was, Shion wanted desperately to meet him and show him the music he’d been working on.

He hoped to act cool as he played the piano for the mystery voice, however knowing him, he’d probably clam up in a flustered ball of compliments and blushing. His face felt hot at the mere thought.

  

* * *

 

It was clear to Safu that Shion was in a _very good_ mood. It was also clear that he wasn’t paying attention to anything she was saying, but she didn’t that mind as she was fairly used to it by now. What she _did_ mind was the fact that he’d been practically floating down the hallways all day but had yet to inform her on the cause of his happiness. Shion was such a happy and borderline airhead person that she wouldn’t be surprised if seeing a daisy blooming on his way to school had put him in the state he was in no. However, Safu knew better. This wasn’t just some temporary moment that he would forget by morning; something was clearly up… but what?

“What’s with the humungous and the grin?” Safu asked, taking the easy and bold path to an answer as she tapped away on her phone.

Shion, seeming to come back to reality, smiled and softly said, “I heard a voice sing a song yesterday so I decided to make piano music for it. So far it’s really turning out great.”

Safu looked up from her phone to give him a droll stare. “…You heard a voice?”

“Yeah,”

“And you haven’t gone for a brain scan because…?”

Shion rolled his eyes, “I’m not crazy. Someone was singing a song in the choir room.”

“Okay, did you find out who?”

“No.”

“How come?”

“The person was gone when I opened the door.”

“We’re getting you a therapist.”

“No no, I’m fine. Totally sane, I promise. It’s just that I’m really happy with how it’s fleshing out. I can’t wait to get home to work on it some more.”

“Wait, is that why you have dark bags under your eyes?”

Shion nodded. “I thought you stayed up all night studying for your test!”

“Nah, I couldn’t concentrate on that. Not with that song playing in my head. I’ll play it for you sometime, I think you’ll really like it!”

“Whatever you say.” said the girl; she tried not to sound condescending or disbelieving. She wanted to support Shion, but something was telling her that his loneliness was starting to get the better of him. She made a mental note to spend more time with her best friend.

By this time, they had arrived at Safu’s world history class. Shion waved goodbye to Safu before turning to head in the direction of the math classrooms. She watched him pass through the traffic until he turned the corner, small body disappearing in an instant. After greeting her teacher, she found her seat and sighed.

In the countless times they’d spent together, Safu had never once seen Shion that happy. Her heart squeezed in her chest and she let her head touch her desk. She was in love with Shion- she had been ever since the second grade. She’d told him countless times, but each time he seemed to take it as a joke.

_Heh, and why wouldn’t he? Even if I did start going out with him, I’ll only have to watch someone else swoop down and steal him away one day._

She knew all of this and yet still she insisted on following him, hoping that one day the friendly smiles would turn into warm kisses and soothing words. She scowled to herself, cursing her eyes for the millionth time for not being the same color as Shion’s. They were the only things keeping her from her goal, and unlike any other obstacle, this was one she knew she would never win.

The bell rang to start 4th period. Placing all of the unwanted emotions in a box within her head, Safu lifted her head and raised her hand to answer the drill question.

Everything was in order. _As it should be._

 

* * *

 

By last period, Shion was ready to leave. It wasn’t that he didn’t like school- on the contrary; school was one of his favorite places to be. However today, the interesting subjects, bustling people, and jokes made by friends did little to amuse him as they usually did. All he could think about was the song.

Mr. Banks, Shion’s English teacher, began the class by passing back the papers they’d written the day before. Shion prepared himself for any grade as he watched the paper get placed down in front of him. Taking a big breath in, he flipped it over to see…

A giant “A” in bold red ink. Not only that, but there was a note at the end instructing him to stay after class. A prick of concern jabbed at his stomach as he considered the possibility that he might have done something wrong. Maybe his teacher enjoyed the paper but didn’t enjoy Shion looking like he was sleeping. Maybe he’d unconsciously written about a horrible topic that was so well written he deserved an A but so awful he needed a good “talking to”. The possibilities were endless. His stomach twisting, he prayed that he wouldn’t get into too much trouble.

With a worried face, Shion read his paper for the first time.

_I was told that this world used to be a colorful place. It was a place with a blue sky and a yellow sun, a place where things like “red” and “green” and “gold” were not just imaginary worlds. It was a place where grey and black were scarce. My grandfather used to tell me grand stories about the colors he saw when he was a kid; I remember sitting in front of him before bed time, eyes wide with amazement, straining the limits of my imagination to try and picture something as breathtakingly beautiful as color. When I got older, he would tell me the stories of when color started to fade. Splotches of colors gradually dimmed; slowly, steadily. It was so methodic, so careful, that over the many years it took for all color to become a murky grey, everyone had forgotten that color used to exist. That is, everyone but a few tenacious people like my grandfather. Most people, like my parents, told my grandfather that he was crazy. “Stop lying, you can’t see color!” They’d shout in a half disbelieving, half envious way. It was fine at first, but as time went on, he started to believe them. He could still see the colors, but he no longer believed that they were real. Madness overtook him and he died a couple of years later. And now here I am, left all alone in a world where no one believes in the colors that I’ve been raised with. Here I am, gradually regaining my ability to see color. Here I am, fighting the madness that has begun to invade my heart, the same madness I know once took my grandfather away. And here I am…losing._

Shion sat in very still in his plastic chair, his unblinking eyes fixed onto his paper. He had no idea that he was capable of writing something like this- he’d always pegged himself as a math person who was incapable of accomplishing anything worthwhile in English.

All around him, students were chatting and shuffling their supplies to start taking notes, but Shion couldn’t hear any of it. Instead, his ears only listened to his slightly elevated pulse, his even breaths, and the sound of his fingers brushing lightly over his words.

How had he done this? Out of all of his attempts, this one had, bye far, worked the best despite him putting next to no energy into it. Shion found it hard to believe that simply putting himself in another place could work such miracles, however he had absolutely no other explanation for it.

Mr. Banks cleared his throat and greeted the class before jumping straight into a lesson about Shakespeare. Shoving his looping questions to the back of his head, Shion put all of his energy into paying attention and taking good notes.

…Which worked for all of five seconds. Right as Shion was about to copy down the first bullet point from the PowerPoint, the door swung open.

 

* * *

 

 “Mrs. Bragunier wants to know if she can borrow your _The Sound of Music_ DVD.” said Nezumi. Red and black eyes examined the teacher, Mr. Banks if he remembered correctly. What should have been a two second once-over wound up stretching to a good half of a minute. The man looked like he’d dressed himself by reaching into his closet blindfolded and just grabbing whatever.

Today he was sporting a purple shirt with orange pants, a green tie, mis-matched socks, and, two different shoes- one sneaker and one loafer. Nezumi was torn between getting the man a mirror and sending a picture of him to the Webster dictionary people as a visual for the word “disaster”.

“Does she want the movie version or the live musical version?”

Realizing he was staring, Nezumi snapped his eyes back to attention.“The movie version please.”

While the teacher searched in the storage closet, Nezumi glanced at the Power Point and smiled. Shakespeare book were fun to read, even though not everyone felt the same as him.

A flash of white color caught his eyes from the right side of the room. He was about to seek the source of the color when the teacher popped back up from behind his desk. “Ah! Here it is. There you are. Tell Mrs. Bragunier I’ll get it back from her later.”

Nodding, Nezumi took the DVD and left the classroom, completely forgetting the white color.

 

* * *

 

“Did you see that? That was that cool new kid!” whispered one girl excitedly.

“I’ve never seen him before. Now I know what all the hype is about.” Said another with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

“Oh my _God_ he’s so hot!” cut in another with a cliché swoon.

Shion blinked and looked at the door. If he had known that the person who had walked in was the new kid, Shion would have placed taking notes on hold to get a good look at the mysterious person whom everyone seemed to be talking about lately. He had only seen a smudge of black clothes before he’d gone back to finishing the notes from that slide. He felt like an idiot. Only he would pass up seeing a new face for notes. _I’m such a dork._

“Ladies, ladies, quiet down,” Mr. Banks attempted to quell the growing chatter, which died down after a few more excited whispers. He grabbed his green tie and used it to wipe a bit of sweat from his shiny face, the consequence of going into the stuffy, hot, cramped storage room.

Mr. Banks had always been an odd sort of man though Shion had grown used to the everyday strangeness such as the mismatched outfits and the random videos he would show them of cats and exploding houses. However despite his seemingly strange personality and mentality, he was, in actuality, an intelligent and nice English teacher. Though Mr. Banks was just a bit on the strict side, he was not strict enough for Shion to dislike him.

He was an average-looking man in his late twenties with a drive for success and a handsome smile. His eyes, both sharing the same color, were a strange mix between deep purple and black. His desk was very impersonalized, Shion had noticed, bearing no pictures of his Other, family members, or even a pet. It merely held various pens, notepads, and sheets of student work. Shion made a mental note to ask Mr. Banks about his personal life later.

His attention turning back to the PowerPoint, Shion began to scribble down notes as best he could, the note on his paper still brooding in the back of his mind.

English class came and went by steadily and soon, Shion found himself standing in front of his teacher in an almost-empty classroom. There were a few stragglers who shoved papers and books into their backpacks before scurrying away. It was just the two of them now.

“Um, Mr. Banks?” Shion approached the man with what was supposed to be a string greeting but that actually turned into a weak question.

“Hey Shion, what’s up?”

“Um, I wanted to talk to you about the note at the end of my assignment.” The boy held out the paper to his teacher, however the older man didn’t even need to glance at it to know what Shion was talking about. He gave Shion a smile,

“Ah yes, I know exactly what you’re talking about. Shion, your piece was phenomenal, the best in the entire class by a long-shot. I wanted to ask first why you haven’t been giving me things of this quality until now.”

“I’d like to know the answer as well, Mr. Banks. The truth is, I don’t know how I wrote something like that, I kind of just did,” Shion confessed with a shrug.

“You may not know, but I can say for sure that you do not belong in this class. I want to bump you up to the upper level English class. You’ll be able to refine and train your talent better there than in this class, trust me.”

“B-but I, you- I- what?”

“As it’s in another period, you’ll most likely have to switch a few of your periods around. I’ll talk to your guidance counselor about it, but in the end it’s still your decision. I want you to know that I truly think this is the best path for you, and I hope you consider to take it.”

Shion nodded numbly, said goodbye, and left the classroom in a daze.  _What just happened?_

 

* * *

 

For the second time that week, Nezumi stayed behind in his last period, choir. His teacher, Mrs. Bragunier, was a wonderful lady with short blond hair and two bright blue eyes. She was caring, understanding, and had been the only person in the entire school (besides Inukashi) to not give him crap for the rumors that circled around him all the time. She treated him like any other student, just like Nezumi wanted, and she’d earned a great deal of his respect for it.

At first, he’d been unsure about joining the school choir. He’d always enjoyed singing; he’d even considered joining a couple of times in other schools, but joining a group in school seemed like too much of a risk and had therefore remained no more than a whimsical thought. However after meeting Mrs. Bragunier, those thoughts had come together completely to form a reality. It was all thanks to Mrs. B and Nezumi couldn’t imagine school life without her.

“Will you sing that song again?” Mrs. Bragunier asked with a warm smile on her face, “The one that you sang yesterday?”

“Sure, can we go outside again? I like that better than singing in here.” the dark-haired boy replied, returning the smile.

“Okay, lead the way.”

Exiting from the door that led outside, Nezumi and his teacher walked a little away from the school building behind the line of trees they’d gone to after Nezumi had sung the day before.

“I’m ready when you are.” His teacher said, anticipation in her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Nezumi allowed himself to fall into the special room in his mind that only opened when he was singing. He felt at peace there as he sang from the bottom of his heart. The lyrics seemed to fly from his lips like they were the most natural things to be saying. He found it easier to relax and feel the music when he was outdoors and away from the awful fluorescent light within the school. He let his mind move to the things in his life that made him feel happy- Cups of tea, his prized copy of _Hamlet_ , the sound of a cello, and warm spring rain on his skin. All too soon, the song was over and his teacher was clapping, his mind moving away from its peaceful room and back to reality.

“I still can’t grasp just how amazing you are, Nezumi. That was fantastic!”

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.”

“Say, have you ever considered getting someone to play a piano accompaniment for this?” his teacher asked, “I think it would compliment your voice nicely if you had a ‘musical backdrop’, if you will.”

He couldn’t say that he had. After all, this was just some song that he sang for fun. He didn’t know the title or if it even had a piano piece, and he certainly couldn’t write it himself. Besides, he didn’t know anyone who could write it for him and then play it. It was just a silly idea all together. “No, I haven’t.”

Her face was an unreadable mix between pensive and confidence, one that said that she was thinking about what to say next. After a few beats, she smiled once more and settled with a simple, “Hmm, well you should. You might be surprised.” She winked. “Do you have anything else you’ve been practicing on your own?”

“Yeah, nothing official or as complete as what I just sang though.”

“That doesn’t matter, I’m happy to hear anything you sing.”

Nezumi sang bits and pieces of the songs he’d been playing around with in his free time, a warmth beginning to swell up in his chest. He loved this- being able to perform without any huge expectations or pressure, hearing himself among the sounds of rustling leaves on trees and the wind blowing through the air. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Nezumi felt right.

They stayed out there for a few minutes, but the time soon came for them make their way back to the school building. Mrs. B had papers to grade, and Nezumi had math homework that was unfortunately necessary to do.

As the teacher and student slowly made their way back inside, they chatted about trivial things. When they’d entered the choir room again, Nezumi thanked his teacher, grabbed his backpack, and left, a slight smile still on his face.

It wasn’t often that Nezumi felt happy while in school, and he intended to ride the emotional high for as long as possible. As he turned the corner and headed for the exit, he ran through the list of things he needed to do when he got home: f _eed Hamlet, practice the new song, go over the math notes, call mom and dad…_

At the same time, a rather anxious white-haired boy approached the choir room. Equipped with a music folder and a smile, the young boy was completely unaware of what could have happened if he’d arrived just a few minutes earlier.

  

* * *

 

“Ah, Shion. Good to see you, what can I do for you?” said Mrs. Bragunier, looking up from her papers when she heard her door open.

“Hi Mrs. B, I wanted to know if you could listen to this song I’ve been working on and maybe give me some feedback. I haven’t written much, but it would still mean a lot to me.” He smiled sheepishly at his teacher.

“Sure thing. I’d love to hear you play.”

The two settled by the grand piano, Shion seated on the stubby piano stool and Mrs. B standing slightly to the right of the large instrument.

Shion played as much as he had written with all of his heart. He wanted to somehow take all of the emotions that the song made him feel and give it to his audience, to let them somehow share a single moment when everyone could understand each other through a mutual emotion. Shion had just gotten through with the first chorus when the music abruptly cut off, something he’d wanted to mend before going to school but simply hadn’t had enough time to do.

Removing his fingers from the keys, Shion’s multi-colored eyes came to rest upon Mrs. B’s startled ones. Confusion contorted his face in an instant as his mind began to jump to conclusions. Oh my god she doesn’t like it. Not only did I fail to give her my emotions, I’ll bet she’s confused and even shocked that I was able to make something so horrible. _Oh man, I was really hoping she’d like it too… No, no, there’s no time for that. For now I should just take her rejection and leave with a smile, then trash the piece and start over._

“That was wonderful, Shion!” his teacher exclaimed. Her face was no longer one of shock, but instead one of thrill and joy. “Where did you hear such a lovely song? I simply have to know the name of it!”

Shion scratched his head nervously, “I actually don’t know the name of the song…It’s a funny story actually, I heard someone sing it in here yesterday but when I went to see who, he was gone.”

Mrs. B opened her mouth to say something, but closed it as if she were reconsidering her words. “Well, I hope you find the name of the song soon, it’s simply too wonderful to not be made known. Anyways, look here in measure 5. You used a half note, but I think a whole note with a fermata would do so much for the...” The two talked music for a good ten minutes and y the time Shion was ready to leave, he felt a lot more confident about his music.

Thanking the choir/piano teacher, Shion left for home, clutching the music folder to his chest the whole way there.

After the door closed, Mrs. Bragunier smiled to herself and shut the cover over the piano keys, “Those two have no idea, do they?” she mused to herself.

How funny was this? Two students come in back to back with the piece of music the other is missing. Not only that, but they had the same rare eye color combination. Being able to tell that the two were soul mates was child’s play.

This was no mere coincidence, but instead the kind of thing that only fate could pull off. She extremely was tempted to help them out- maybe a push here or a pull there- but she knew she couldn’t. The truth was this type of thing could only be done by the two of them; it was just better that way, despite it being entirely frustrating.

Thinking of those two brought memories back of her as a teen, spending her days daydreaming about what her soul mate would be like until, finally, they bumped found each other. She wished them the best of luck as she turned off the lights of the classroom, left the room, and locked the door behind her.

  

* * *

 

"Okay class, you have the entire class period to finish the test. Make sure your name is on it. When you’re done, you can come up to my desk and hand it to me. You may begin.”

20 test packets flipped simultaneously, signaling the beginning of the long-awaited and largely anticipated calculus test. Their teacher had been sick the day before, so the test had been pushed to today, something Shion's classmates had been very pleased about.

Taking a deep breath, Shion picked up his stubby pencil and scratched his name at the top of the test. Just as he had begun reading the first question, a sudden shrill noise cut through the air causing Shion to jump in his seat, breaking him from his short-lived concentration. Across the room, his peers let out relieved sighs and excited cheers as they abandoned their pencils and stood up from their desks.

A fire drill had come to their rescue. “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” the teacher muttered under her breath, then spoke louder, “Alright, you all know the drill. Line up by the door and walk out in a single file- Hey! You know you’re not allowed to bring anything. Get in line!”

Shion shuffled away with the sea of people, eyes searching for Safu’s all the way. He knew that she would be somewhat near him since her classroom was only a couple of doors down. He scanned the crowd for blue/brown eyes since it was the easiest thing for Shion to distinguish Safu by. Flashes of browns, yellows, blues, and greens passed through Shion’s gaze but he still couldn’t find Safu.

The thin boy allowed himself to be pushed along with the current of people outside to the school parking lot. Brown, green, blue, brown, green, blue, brown, green, black, blue-

_Wait, what was that?_

Double-taking, Shion craned his neck back to see what that splash of black had been, however nothing was there but a blur of indistinguishable colors as people continued to move forward. He tried to push his way against the flow of people but stopped when he heard his name being called.

“Shion!” yelled a familiar voice.

Turning back around, Shion locked eyes with a waving Safu and trotted over. They found a clearing where there weren’t too many people to make the both of them feel claustrophobic. Still, Shion stole one last glance to the place where the black color had been, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips turned slightly down.

“Hey, what’s with that weird face you’re making?”

He smoothened out his face and smiled, “I thought I saw something but I guess it was nothing.”

“How convenient is this fire drill? We were sitting through one of Mr. Miller’s infinity lectures but it cut him off.” Safu grinned in an appreciative way.

Shion chuckled in agreement, “Yeah, I’m missing a test for this.”

“It’s not like you need it though, you already know everything there is to know about your current unit and probably the next unit too. I’m sure that test would be a warm up if anything for you.”

“Please, you’re exaggerating... But you’re right, I’m really not worried about it. Still, I’m glad we got to come out and enjoy this nice weather.”

“They say it’s supposed to thunderstorm later today.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to remember to leave my windows open.” Shion loved listening to the rain and thunder, he found it very relaxing. And sometimes he would yell into the noises of the elements, knowing full well no one else would hear him. He would never admit to any of that, though.

Safu shook her head, “You’re so weird.”

  

* * *

 

_This can't be happening._

As people brushed past him in a wave of energy and confusion, Nezumi remained completely still, eyes wide as a million thoughts ran into each other at light speed through his head. He had to fight the urge to let his mouth hang open and stare.

That boy, the pale, skinny wimpy-ish one with the pure white hair and the innocent face...he was Nezumi's soul mate.

He had to be; Nezumi had never met anyone with the same color combination in his life. Not only that, but his heart had leapt during the few seconds that their eyes had locked, as if it was trying to tug its way out of Nezumi's chest to be closer to the other boy's.

He still couldn’t believe it- first the boy had been there, eyes searching the crowd while being pushed along the sea of bodies. Nezumi, bored out of his mind, had been lazily looking at all of the different people who were coming out of the school. And then, he had found him. A boy with a pair of eyes that matched Nezumi’s perfectly. Black and red. It had only been a short moment, a mere handful of seconds, a glimpse, but that was clearly all it took for a connection to be made. Whether or not it was  _the_ connection was anyone's guess. Nezumi hoped whatever had just happened didn't mean what he  _thought_ it meant.

And now he was left stuck with absolutely no idea what to do next. He'd always written off soul mate finding as something that would come when he was older, never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that it would sucker punch him like this. How would he go about finding him again? Hell, did he even want to? The kid hadn't seemed to notice what had happened so maybe if he ignored it, it would simply go away.

Nezumi tried his best recreate his “soul mate’s” face in his mind and frowned. Whoever he was, he wasn’t very impressive. Skinny, nerdy, and clumsy looking, Nezumi doubted someone like him would even glance his way, let alone want to spend their whole lives together. No, like Romeo and Juliet they were complete opposites who would be doomed from the start. People like him simply didn’t associate with people like Nezumi- it was a law of life.

Brushing his long hair behind his ear, Nezumi decided to spare the effort of looking for whoever that white-haired boy was. Not only would he save the both of them an awkward confrontation, but he’d also save himself the humiliation of searching tirelessly only to be turned down. It was better this way, everything Nezumi knew was telling him such.

…So why did his chest hurt so much?

He glanced towards the direction he’d seen the shorter man walk in and shoved his hands in his pockets in frustration. Whatever was going on, he would surely get over it and then go back to his normal life.

_Or at least, I hope so._


	3. The Simplest Things Always Seem To Get Screwed Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪The slow and simple melody  
> Of tears you cannot keep from me.  
> It's alright if you don't know  
> What you need.♪  
> -Porcelain by Marianas Trench
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3!!! (A day late because I've been super sick for the past three days DX Edit: Actually 2 days since I posted this after midnight XP)  
> I had a lot of fun writing the dialogue between Safu and Shion- this was one of the very first scenes I pictured when I first came up with the plot. The mood of it has changed a lot as I've begun to understand the personalities of the characters better, but I think it turned out for the best.  
> Ms. Robins was based off of another teacher that I've had in the past. I thought she would fit as a type of teacher that's different from the others we've met throughout the story.  
> I also bumped the audience rating to teen and up just because I see myself using colorful language, especially in Nezumi's POV, lol.  
> Thanks for all of the support!!! All of your comments make me super happy to read :)

The next day, Shion was running late. Clearly he was not meant to stay up late on school nights for he’d fallen asleep at the piano and had woken up with less than 20 minutes until the first bell.

What was usually a leisurely 30 minute morning routine was crammed into a frantic 5 minutes. Both of his shoes were untied, he had buttoned his shirt incorrectly, and his hair was a mess, but he was technically ready and he didn’t have any time to spare for looking his best. Trying not to think about how similar he looked to the fashion-impaired Mr. Banks, the white-haired boy grabbed a muffin and dashed out of his house with speed he hadn’t known he was capable of reaching.

Shion was a blur. The wind lapped at his cheeks and tousled his already unkempt hair while his bag thumped heavily against his back. He was practically flying. And before he knew it, he was at school, running down the hallways and breaking about six other school rules as he raced against the clock. He had a little more than half a minute to reach his first class, which was located at the other end of the school. The odds were stacked against him but he could make it- he knew he could.

Shion spotted Safu as she was about to move to her English class. She waved at him and began to say something, but he was gone long before she could get the words out. Turning the corner, he steered past a cluster of couples that were spending the last few seconds before the bell with their Other. Normally Shion would stop and consider what it would be like to do that with his own soul mate- and maybe wonder whom his soul mate would turn out to be- but he had more important things to do. His perfect attendance was on the line and his watch, which was synchronized with the school bells, said he only had 10 seconds to the bell.

“There it is!” he panted when he saw the door to his first period, an exhausted yet delighted expression on his face. With his goal mere inches away, Shion put the last bits of his energy into getting inside the classroom.

The bell rang just as got to his seat, his lungs screaming at him for running so fast without any warning or preparation. Sagging at his desk, Shion threw his head back and breathed a sigh of relief. He was surprised to find that his grogginess had somehow completely vanished in during his dash to school, and became even more thrilled when he realized his perfect attendance was still unscathed.

His social studies teacher, a middle-aged woman with graying hair named Ms. Robins, led the class into the drill. As he scribbled everything he knew about the Roman Empire, his thoughts drifted to his teacher. She was a headstrong, passionate, and driven individual who, though sporting a sharp outside, was actually rather nice. A lot of people didn’t like her, but Shion always appreciated how sure of herself she came off as being. And, despite what others may have said, she was a good teacher who refused to leave anyone behind in her lessons.

Ms. Robins had two warm purple eyes that always seemed a bit sad, like she couldn’t quite let go of some haunting memory. Shion always felt bad for her because her eyes were a _special_ case- and that meant a lot coming from the person with an _extremely special_ case. Unlike most people, Ms. Robins had been born with two eyes of the same color. That didn’t mean that she had no soul mate, rather instead that her soul mate had the same natural eye color as her, making the search much harder.

Shion couldn’t imagine the pain of meeting trying to meet eyes with someone that had two of the same color only to find out that they weren’t his own soul mate but instead someone else’s who they’d already met. The bright side was that Ms. Robins got off a little easy since her natural color was unusual, however Shion could tell that the time it was taking to find her soul mate was bugging her, especially as she encountered more and more students who had already found their other half.

His thoughts returned to the class. Despite not liking the subject, Shion always found it easy to approach Ms. Robins, which was why they shared stories constantly during classroom free time. If he ever had a problem, Shion wouldn’t think it difficult at all to approach her to talk about it.

Class went by in a blurry haze of timelines and important figures. The problem with history was that Shion knew that he should know of and remember things like dates, events, names, and people, but he just couldn’t manage to pull it off. It was so easy to get Franklin mixed with Jefferson or Hinduism mixed with Buddhism that class was often maddening for the pale boy.

They had textbook work- his most formidable enemy- to do for most of this class. The problem with textbooks was that they’re not written to avoid being dull and next to impossible to focus on, they were written to get as much trivial, frivolous pieces of knowledge into a single book. And the worksheets that went along with them were awful, to say the least. He could tell that whoever had made the worksheet created the questions with exactly one answer in mind. The questions used complicated words to express a small question- an unnecessary task that Shion had become very used to.

When the bell rang, Shion collected his things and approached Ms. Robins for his daily farewell.

“See you later, Mrs. Robins,” Shion gave her a cheery smile and a wave.

“See you tomorrow Shion,” she responded, looking up from the papers at her desk. When she locked eyes with him, her mouth opened every so slightly to form a small “o” as her purple orbs widened. Shion turned to leave.

“Uh- Shion!” the teacher called, standing from her desk, arm slightly outstretched.

He turned again, “Yes?”

“You…” she began, her eyes stirring as she decided what to say. “Have a nice day.” She smiled warmly.

“Yeah! You too!”

Mrs. Robins watched Shion merge into the hallway traffic and sat back at her desk, smiling, “Good for him.”

 

* * *

 

“Oh. My. God.”

Shion chuckled as Safu approached him with her usual greeting, paper lunch bag. Every day she had a new “huge scoop” filled to the brim with melodrama and the occasional scandal. He didn’t have much use for the information, but the daily stories never failed to amuse him during his lunch hour.

“What is it this time? Did Inukashi get expelled again? Or maybe Mr. Banks came in wearing another outrageous outfit?”

Safu gave him a droll and unamused stare. “What do you mean ‘what is it’? You already know about it, you can’t fool me.”

 _Okay, what?_ It wasn’t like Safu to start so…negative. Not unless a bad grade was attached, and Shion didn’t know anything about any poor grades. His face fell as his eyes strained to read his best friend’s face. Her eyebrows were turned down in a half annoyed, half disappointed kind of way. Clearly he had done _something_ to piss her off, but what? Was it because he hadn’t said hello to her this morning? No, Safu was rational to not get worked up by something as small as that. Shion knew grades weren’t in the mix, so what?

She let out a frustrated sigh, “God Shion, why didn’t you tell me about something as important as this sooner? I thought we were best friends!” she down across from him and began unpacking her lunch with a little more force than necessary. A variety of fruit and vegetable-heavy foods materialized from the 100% recyclable bag, everything organic and biodegradable as per Safu’s taste.

Popping the lid off of her Tupperware container, Safu forcefully stabbed her fork into her salad and shoved it into her mouth while her hard eyes stared directly at Shion. He knew she wanted him to say something, the problem was he didn’t know _what_ she wanted him to say. He didn’t know anything that he had kept from Safu, nothing, at least, that was big enough to earn him _this_ kind of treatment.

Now, most people who found themselves in this situation would take this as a normal, mood swing-induced tantrum from a teenage girl, however Shion knew better than that. He knew _Safu_ better than that. She wouldn’t be demanding so much and acting like this without a good reason.

Safu was a very factual, straight to the point kind of person. She wouldn’t hesitate to ask or say something bluntly simply because she didn’t see the advantage of tip-toeing around the matter at hand. Normally someone like her wouldn’t be capable of being so dramatic, but Safu was capable of beingdramatic. She did it quite often, surprisingly. Safu instinctually made her emotions extremely blunt and easy to pick up on, leaving no room for misinterpretation. She was an interesting girl, indeed. And, thankfully, he had been around her long enough to know how to work his way out of a dramatic situation.

Unfortunately though, Shion could tell that this wasn’t a simple matter of drama. The way Safu’s eyes, hard and insisting, burned into Shion’s skin told him as much.

“What’s wrong? You’re not acting like yourself. You know that we’re friends, nothing’s changed that. I haven’t hidden anything important from you. You’re my best friend, you know how awful I am with keeping important stuff to myself. You’re always the first person I tell,” he looks straight into her eyes, refusing to back down, “Or at least second behind mama,” he adds with a small smile.

He watches her expression falter for a second and he thinks he may have convinced her. But just as fast as the hard interigating gaze had left, it returned, “Playing koi won’t work on me, mister. You should know that much by now.” She still didn’t believe him.

“I’m not playing koi, I really have no idea what you’re talking about.” His eyes remained connected to hers, which annoyed Safu. _How could he look so clueless when something so monumental had happened? Could it be that he really didn’t know? It is Shion we’re talking about…If anyone was capable of not realizing, it would be him._

“Are you serious?”

“100% serious. Mind filling me in?”

Seemingly ignoring Shion, Safu began to dig through her backpack while muttering to herself. “I know I put it in here…no…ah, I’ve been looking for this!...no…no…here!” Her hand emerged from her bag with a compact mirror. “Here, look at your reflection.”

He accepted the mirror. “Do I really look that bad? I know I didn’t have much time to get ready but is it really bad enough to become the gossip of the day?” When he flipped open the top of the compact mirror, his body stilled and his blood turned icy.

Everything was normal facial-wise. He had a small button nose where it belonged, a thin mouth, two ears that poked out a little from beneath his white hair. And he had two round eyes. Two round _red_ eyes.

_Where did the black one go?_

“Oh my god,” he breathed as he moved his hand to touch his face. _This…can’t be happening._

“Well? Who is it?”

“Who’s who?” He look back up to Safu who was expectantly looking at him, his voice was shaky.

She gave him an incredulous look. “Your soul mate, who else?”

He was silent for a few beats as the question slowly registered.

“My…soul mate?”

 _That’s right, who_ is _my soul mate? I don’t remember doing anything different yesterday. I didn’t meet anyone new at school and only regular customers came to the bakery. Besides, I think I would have remembered seeing anyone with red and black…_

Realization dawned on him with about the same gentleness of an earthquake. _The fire drill. It_ had _to be. I saw a ton of people then, people I hadn’t even seen before, what with such a big school I go to. One of them must have been my soul mate... Oh man, great job, Shion, you found your soul mate but you have no idea who they are. Geeze, leave it to me to screw up this much._

At least, that’s what he thought at first.

But, to his initial surprise, a warm, happy feeling began to work its way up from his stomach and straight to his heart. This wasn’t something to dread, after all. Sure, he didn’t know who his soul mate was, but at least he knew he had a soul mate. That was a hell of a lot better than the position he’d been in the previous day. There was something so exhilarating in discovering that he wasn’t meant to be alone and Shion couldn’t help the smile that was quickly spreading across his face. He felt like he was glowing from the inside out, like he’d swallowed the sun and was now exuding light from every pore of his body. Even without a known identity, Shion had met his soul mate and, even better, he knew that person went to school with him. It would only be a matter of time before he found them again.

With restored confidence, Shion beamed and answered Safu, “Ah, that. I have absolutely no idea!” He shrugged and laughed, _actually_ laughed.            

Safu, however, was not so easy going, and looked at him like he’d just given birth to a litter of cats. “How can you be so calm about this? Aren’t you worried about this at all? This is a big deal, Shion! And to begin with, how can you not know who your soul mate is? Don’t you remember meeting them?”

“I think it happened during the fire drill,” the newly-red-eyed boy explained, “The whole school was in one place, there’s no way I could remember everyone who I happened to pass by.”

Safu groaned and massaged her temples, “Only you are capable of doing something like this.”

The boy chuckled, “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

They sat in silence, both focusing on their lunches. It wasn’t an awkward silence though. Shion could tell by the look on Safu’s face that she was taking the time to properly analyze and come to terms with what Shion had just told her. This was a good and necessary silence, and Shion was happy that his friend wasn’t one to refuse to acknowledge the things people said to her.

“Well, you may be in a sucky situation,” she said after the slight reprieve, “But you’re pretty lucky.”

“How so?”

His best friend grinned and held up her smartphone, “You have me to help you out! With my network of information, I’ll be able to find your soul mate for you in my sleep.”

His heart swelled as newfound hope and a notion he hadn’t thought of earlier washed over him. “Really?”

"Really. I’m as excited and anxious about this as I’m sure you are. I’ll start working on it tonight.”

"You’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for!”

She gave him one of her Looks that said ‘tell me something I don’t know.’

 

* * *

 

When the end-of-lunch bell rang, they got rid of the remains of their lunches and started walking to chemistry together.

“Hey, I just realized that now we know what color is your natural eye color,” said Safu, “I always thought red would suit you the best. I’m glad I was right.”

“Why did you think that?”

“If you had red eyes, that would make you look like a bunny, which would _totally_ fit your character.”

“Are you trying to say I have a high sex drive?”

Safu chuckled, “No, I mean you tend to be timid around strangers and you’re cute, just like a bunny.” Immediately after, Safu wished she hadn’t opened her mouth.

 _I just told him he’s cute! I mean I know I’m not one to beat around the bush, but I wasn’t planning on telling him! Especially not after he found his soul mate…Crap, I can’t deal with this now. Not now…_ A strange yet familiar tightness began to wrap itself around Safu’s chest. She became very aware of how fast her heart had started to beat and she looked at Shion to see if he had caught her slip up.

He hadn’t.

_I should’ve known better than to get hung up on something like this. Shion may be smart but when it comes to being social, he’s as thick as it gets._

“I see.” Said Shion, completely unaware of the inner conflict Safu was experiencing, “Well I guess that’s pretty true; I’m kinda glad my natural color wound up being red too. Red is a pretty cool color, though now that I think about it, I wouldn’t have minded black either. Black eyes with my white hair would have made a really cool contrast.”

“If you say so. I still like red better though. Hey, do you think there’s anyone else like you?”

“You mean nerdy and timid around strangers? Yeah, there’re tons of people like that.”

“No, no, I mean people who don’t know what eye color is their natural color.”

“Well sure.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Think of it this way. We usually know what our natural color is depending on the natural color of our parents. Take you, for example, you have one brown eye and one blue eye. Your mom was brown-eyed and your dad was green-eyed. Logically, your natural color would be brown like your mom’s, right?”

“Right,”

Shion continued. “People who don’t know who their parents are couldn’t possibly know what their natural eye color could be.”

“I see. That’s a pretty sucky position to be in,”

“I can see why you’d think that way, but it’s not like we’ll never find out. Finding your soul mate is supposed to be a part of fate, yeah? You’ll find your Other whether you put energy towards it or not so I have nothing to worry about. And besides, I like not knowing- it gives me something to look forward to, an edge of surprise that not a lot of other people can experience.”

“Okay, sure, I’ll give you that much. But do you know of anyone else who’s _changed_ like you-“

“Gah! Class is about to start!” Shion interjected after a quick glance at his watch, “C’mon, let’s hurry!”

Safu dropped her question and hurried down the corridor right behind Shion. She dropped her question, yes, but that didn’t mean she was ready to give up on an answer. She’d have time to bring it up again in the future and next time, she wouldn’t back down.

The two ran the last stretch of the way to their chemistry class, sitting down at their seats right when the bell rang. Shion wondered why he kept having to race against the clock for that day, but quickly let the thought go as he began to focus on writing chemical formulas.

 

* * *

 

“That’s fantastic, Nezumi!” exclaimed his art teacher after glancing at Nezumi’s nearly-finished painting. He showed the teacher the barest of smiles before returning to his work.

Something had really clicked with this assignment- more so than the other small exercises they’d worked on for the past couple of days. Nezumi chalked his enthusiasm up to the sheer amount of flexibility they’d been granted.

The only rule for the assignment was that it had to be done in paint and that it had to be a self-portrait; other than that, students were free to do whatever they pleased. Nezumi had gone for an upper body, shading-heavy approach with a dark background to emphasize his ghostly pale skin.

The Nezumi in the painting had his grey hair up and out of his face- the same style he usually wore while painting- and he was wearing the favorite scarf that was a present from a number of Christmases ago. He looked cold and a little tired, but most outstanding of all was his eyes.

Before Nezumi had realized it, the eyes had become the center and main point of his painting. This wasn’t his intention, but as he placed the last finishing touches onto his canvas, he realized he didn’t mind at all.

With five minutes left to class, the boy cleaned his work station and handed his assignment to the teacher.

“Truly excellent. I can tell that you really put your all into this. That makes me happy,” his teacher said with a grin, “I think you’re really starting to fit in.”

“About that…” Nezumi began. Contrary to what his art teacher believe, Nezumi wasn’t fitting in _at all._ Not that he really cared that much, but it was more than a little annoying to have everyone avoid him at all times. When his name was mentioned, people got quiet and began whispering crazy lies that seemed to get more outrageous by the day. Not a lot of people knew his face simply because he only stayed at school to finish his classes and maybe talk to his choir teacher, but if he tried to make any friends, Nezumi knew they’d run off the second he gave them his name.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

 

* * *

 

 

"I came up with an idea that might be able to help you fit in better,” said Mrs. Bragunier all of a sudden one day after school. Nezumi had come in to help her tackle the monster of a pile of sheet music that was in dire need of organizing. He looked up from a stack of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ soprano copies. “I don't know if it'll actually work but who knows, maybe it's worth a shot," she shrugged and continued to sift through papers without making eye contact.

"What did you think of?"

"It’s a little…out there,” she warned, “But I'll walk you through my thought process.” Nezumi nodded, “To begin with, your name right now has a bad connotation. People hear it and immediately start thinking the worst- it's been like that since before you even came here. It's not exactly fair, but that's the situation you're faced with.” His teacher threw a large stack into a box marked ‘Show Tunes’ with a little more force than necessary, the boy to give a small smile. “So I was thinking that maybe you should come up with a nickname to use instead of your actual name. From what you've told me, people don't really know who you are, they just know your name, so it could be possible to become an entirely separate person from the 'Nezumi' everyone is talking about."

It was an interesting idea- one that Nezumi would only expect Mrs. Bragunier to come up with. He thought it was a bit silly, well scratch that, more than a bit, more like a hell of a lot silly, but that didn't mean it wasn't worth considering. 

_If it would get people to stop using my name as an ass wipe, I guess it would be worth it._

"I...could try that out."

She smiled, finally looking up from her work to look at him, "You don't have to you know. If you think it's a bad idea I won't be offended,"

"It's not a bad idea, it's actually rather creative. It's not like I can make my reputation any worse than it already is, so I may as well give it a shot."

“You’ve got a point,”

They fell into a silent and methodical routine that stretched on for a time unknown to Nezumi. It was hypnotic and meditational at the same time and he found himself falling into a state of peace- his body toiling away and his mind wandering to no place in particular.

"So, do you have any ideas for a nickname?" said Mrs. B, breaking the silence after awhile.

The boy was brought back to the moment and took a couple of seconds to think, "Hmm...I think I'll go with-"

 

* * *

 

"Eve? You want me to put Eve down as the artist's name? What's wrong with your name?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's just that Eve is my nickname and I used it more than my first name in my old school," Sure, it was a small lie, but if Nezumi could get this to happen, he'd have made a big step into changing his reputation.

"Well I guess there's nothing wrong with that… Would you also like me to start calling you Eve in class?"

"Yes please, if you could,"

"I don't mind. I'll try to remember from here on out.”

“Thank you very much,” said Nezumi before moving to go to his next class.

“Say,” said his teacher right before he exited the classroom, “How'd you get a nickname like Eve?"

He stopped by the door and smiled, "I had a friend who said that excitement follows right behind me, just like the eve of a holiday. It just kinda stuck from there."

“I see. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Eve.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow,”

And just like that, Nezumi was becoming a whole new person. It felt a little dumb when he thought about it, but he could feel a change coming, a _good_ change, and he was excited to see where this new path would lead him.

As he walked through the hallways, he took the time to observe the people he passed. Friends laughing, guys doing their secret handshakes, obviously-late kids booking it to make it to the other side of the school- Nezumi felt like he was in slow motion as a kaleidoscope of personalities floated past his eyes.

Yet not a single one of them looked at him.

Whether that was because of his reputation or his sunglasses was anyone’s guess. Yes, _sunglasses._ As one who usually condoned wearing sunglasses indoors, Nezumi had found no other way to hide his little _morning surprise_ that he’d woken up to.

His worst fears from the day before had come to life when he found two black eyes staring back at him in his reflection. His stomach hadn’t dropped _that_ low since he rode the ‘Hell’s Hurricane’ rollercoaster at the amusement park. He’d _thought_ he was in the clear the night before when he’d gone to bed with heterochromatic eyes- he had been sorely mistaken.

He also thought his teachers would’ve had a problem with him wearing sunglasses in school, but it turns out that when you have a bad enough reputation, you get to get away with a _ton_ of things- one of the few advantages of Nezumi’s current situation. He found he was extremely grateful for the lack of intervention seeing as his mood had been less than great ever since discovering the whole "soul mate thing" was not just for show.

He had a soul mate, that much was for certain and he'd be a fool if he tried to deny it. However, that didn't mean that they were meant to be. And Nezumi was  _not_ going to go out of his way for something he knew would end up being a stupid waste of time. He didn't need a life partner, and he certainly didn't need a mousy little geek like the one destiny had given him. As one who was a proud believer in giving destiny the finger, Nezumi was more than content in letting his life go on as usual and giving a menacing glare to anyone who tried to tell him otherwise.

As he turned the corner into the music wing for his last period, he found himself removing the tinted lenses. He had chorus and if there was one place in the entire world Nezumi could show his newly-matching eyes, it was in Mrs. B’s class.

Said teacher was waiting just outside of the classroom door, greeting her students as they walked in. Just one glance at her said everything that needed to be said.

_Nezumi: I need to talk and you’re the only one I can turn to._

_Mrs. B: After school, and don’t you dare leave out any details._

So as he took his usual space next to the other tenors, Nezumi took a deep breath and tried his best to feel calm.

…Though that was a very hard thing to accomplish when visions of white hair and red eyes kept popping up in the corners of his mind.


	4. Everything’s All Fun and Games Until Your Boyfriend Catches You Cross-Dressing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪We've been stuck now so long  
> We just got the start wrong.  
> One more last try,  
> I'mma get the ending right.  
> You can't stop this,  
> And I must insist that you  
> Haven't had enough.  
> You haven't had enough.♪  
> -Haven't Had Enough by Marianas Trench
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came up with a bunch of titles for this chapter but I like this one the best. It kinda reminds me of Panic! at the Disco song titles lol.  
> Writing this chapter was a challenge but I think it was also the most fun to write! I've come to realize that part of the problem with making a No. 6 high school AU is that the school needs many students but No. 6 has a very small cast. I'm going to try to refrain from bringing up OCs in future chapters unless they have established roles like the teachers and maybe the theater director.  
> Oh, and as always, thank you all so much for the kudos and nice comments. Eyes Only for You has officially gotten over 1000 hits and almost has 100 kudos! For my first fanfic, this is incredible! I have already grown so much as a writer just from publicizing my work, and I know that I'll continue to grow from here on. So thanks again!! You guys are awesome! :)  
> God I talk a lot XD I hope you all enjoy chapter 4!

Somehow an entire week managed to sneak by Safu’s watchful eye without even a hint of Shion’s mystery soul mate. No matter who she asked, no one knew of anyone with “black and red eyes that had recently turned completely black”. Calling the whole situation frustrating was a large understatement to say the least, yet Safu refused to let herself be beat.

She’d been in the information business long enough to know that it was impossible for someone to remain completely off the school’s radar. School plays, science awards, showcased art, top scores on a math test; it was these small accents of the school culture where ghost people- those who didn’t make much of a statement- turned up.

Safu had chosen to ignore all of that and instead turn to the student population, a move that she had thought would save her time but had actually cost her valuable time. However, she’d finally discovered the flaw in her approach. It wasn’t that no one knew who she was looking for, it was that none of the people she’d been asking knew; she had just been asking the wrong people.

At least, those were the thoughts running through her head when she cornered the recluse and soft-voiced Himeko who was rarely heard from outside of the art wing.

“Someone with black eyes? Yeah, I know someone like that,” said the girl in a voice so soft that Safu had to strain her ears to make sure she’d heard correctly.

“Seriously?! Who?” There was more enthusiasm there than necessary.

“Y-yeah. I’m pretty sure Eve has black eyes,”

 _Eve? Who’s Eve?_ “Are you ‘pretty sure’ or do you know for certain?” She didn’t mean to but she could feel her eyes sharpen into her “don’t mess with me, I’m pissed” glare.

The girl kept looking around Safu towards the exit with eyes that reminded Safu of a deer in front of car headlights. “I-I know for certain- I just saw them today,”

“Good. Where can I find her?”

“Well, I heard Eve just landed a place in the theater club, but-“

“Great! Thanks for the help! I gotta go!”

“W-wait!” the small girl called after her, but Safu was already long gone. “Eve isn’t a _she,”_ said Himeko with a sigh to nobody at all, “Oh well, she’ll find out eventually.”

 

* * *

 

One day, Shion’s life changed drastically. The day itself had been ordinary to say the least. Interesting classes, new gossip, an ungodly amount of homework, and time spent plunking out new pieces of his music on the school piano were just a few examples of the many normalcies he had become familiar with over the school year. There was nothing that had happened to suggest that any major change would occur.

Which was why this single piece of paper had Shion utterly floored.

It wasn’t that large of a paper, maybe 24”x24”, and it wasn’t like it was any special type of paper, it was just typical canvas paper. But what was on it had rendered the boy’s feet completely useless- it was as if his feet had been super-glued to the floor.

This was a simple painting of a boy with long dark hair that reminded Shion of licorice-colored velvet that framed a very pale face. The overall picture was very dark and shadow-heavy, making the painted boy look much sadder and older than Shion.

However, that all faded into the background when Shion looked at the boy’s eyes, one red and one black, in perfect harmony despite being such a unique and ominous combination. The red stood in stark contrast from the varying grays and blacks that covered most of his canvas, a color found solely on one of his eyes, while his black eye popped against his pale skin. They found a balance as the center of the painting as a whole; drawing out a sort of familiarity and realness from the face of this person whom Shion had never met.

Shion was completely still as realization slowly washed over his body, covering him head to toe, both inside and out. It took him a minute, but the boy slowly began to realize that he felt completely calm, as if all of the stress and chaos that he dealt with on a regular basis had fled for that small span of time.

His stomach didn't clench, his breath didn't shorten into quick staccatos, and his spine didn't experience waves of chills. Instead, he felt comfortable and _right_ , like he’d found his way back home after a long journey.

This person was his soul mate- there was absolutely no doubt in his mind. This...Eve, as the name card said, was the person Shion was meant to find, and now that he had a face and a name, nothing was going to stop him.

For the first time in his typically uneventful life, Shion had a purpose, and that alone was enough to give him more energy than a little kid on a sugar high.

The only problem was working up the nerve. Sure, he felt calm now, but Shion knew himself well enough to know that the minute he found Eve, he’d clam up in a messy ball of stuttering and nerves, which was not the first impression he wanted to leave. But despite that, he was going to do whatever it took to make this whole thing happen. He and Eve were the perfect pair for one another and he wasn’t going to let this chance at new happiness pass just because he was incapable of forming proper sentences in front of new people. He would do it…he just needed to work up the nerve…and find the person…and figure out what to say…and say it without messing up.

_Oh brother._

He gazed for a while longer into the painted eyes of his soon-to-be-beloved. This was clearly painted before they’d "met" (if you could even call it that) seeing as how Eve still had heterochromatic eyes. Shion noted that the red eyes seemed to somehow fit the pale man very well, a thought that made Shion smile and straighten up a bit. He was sure that Eve thought the same too.

Now that he had more information, it was time for Shion to go. He had a song to finish writing and a guy to woo. It sure was hard being him.

He turned on his heel and shuffled down the hallway, making sure to steal one more meaningful look at the painting before focusing on what he needed to get done.

With a bounce to his step and a boyish smile on his face, Shion was practically floating. He felt like joy was gushing from his every pore, giving his pale skin an internal glow not unlike a bride on her wedding day. The mystery was finally over, now all he had to do was make Eve want to stay with him, or at least make him _not_ want to run away screaming. Easy enough, right?

He really needed to tell Safu about this- she would probably barbecue him and eat him for lunch if he didn’t- but something was telling him to hold off for just a bit longer. She had always been good at information gathering, so now was the time for Shion to show her that she wasn’t the only one that could find a person in the school. He would tell Safu after he and Eve were together, that way he could introduce Eve at the same time. Two birds with one stone.

He just hoped she wouldn’t interrogate Eve _too_ much when that happened.

 _Huh, I guess this means I’m meant to be with a guy._ Shion’s smile quickly vanished when he realized something else _...Oh man! That means Safu won the bet!_

 

* * *

 

"Alright people, quiet down, quiet down,” said an attractive boy with a great smile. If Nezumi remembered correctly, this rather short, brunette with green eyes called himself Takashi. The same person clapped twice to get the attention of the six or seven other people in the room who were practicing lines and moving around props. They all stopped to look at their leader, “Everyone, this is Eve. Say hi."

The entire room chimed in with a bundle of various friendly greetings. Nezumi waved to the general group of people, trying his best not to look as uncomfortable as the sudden attention made him feel.

Takashi continued, "From today onwards he'll be a member of the theater club. Please help him feel right at home. Now, why don't we go around and introduce ourselves?”

The problem with going around in a circle with introductions was that by the time the last person stated their name, Nezumi had already forgotten the first person’s name. For the few minutes following the introductions, Nezumi strained to remember everyone’s names and devote them to permanent memory. It didn’t help that everyone was in costume at the time and therefore didn’t look like they normally would during school hours, but he was sure that he could do it- it wouldn’t be the hardest thing he’d ever done.

On the contrary, Nezumi was pleasantly surprised by how _easily_ he fit in. The following thirty minutes were the most normal thirty minutes he’d ever experienced since he got to this school, and despite what he thought, he was actually enjoying having some place where he was accepted.

At first joining the theater club was just a frivolous whim, an attempt that he wasn’t expecting much out of, but now he was glad that he’d made the dive. He’d forgotten how familial being in a theater group could be- already people were joking around with him and complimenting his style. This was a place that he was meant to be, and he was glad that neither his reputation nor his attitude and pride were able to keep him from joining.

They worked for an hour that to Nezumi felt like mere seconds, running lines, fixing blocking, and smoothening out transitions. Everything was a bit hectic seeing as costumes had been introduced that day, but from what Nezumi could see, everything was running fairly smoothly.

Or at least it _was_.

"Hey, Takashi, what're we gonna do about Ami moving away? She was our Ophelia!" asked Yatori, Takashi’s assistant and boyfriend.

Unlike Takashi, Yatori was _tall._ So much so that Nezumi had a tilt his head up to make proper eye contact. He had very short black hair that was gelled into tiny spikes. The boy’s tan skin made his pink eyes stand out, giving their owner an impressive and impactful gaze. One of his ears were pierced with a stud that twinkled whenever he moved his head, but that was the only accessory he wore, and from the looks of it, he didn’t have any tattoos. While Takashi came off as more serious, Yatori seemed playful; this was especially true due to the lopsided smile that seemed to always occupy his lips. Nezumi wondered how two people who seemed so different had ended up as soul mates.

Word was they’d apparently met while doing a community theater’s production of _Thoroughly Modern Millie._ It was “love at first sight” from what the girls had told him while he was helping them set up their props, not that he’d asked, but he hadn’t been opposed to listening to them. The boys, on the other hand, swore up and down that it was Yatori’s natural talent for tap dancing that first caught Takashi’s eyes- literally. Regardless of rumor or truth, he could tell that the two were passionate about each other.

Then again, even a dense three year-old could tell that much with the way they acted around each other.

"I was thinking about giving it to Shima- she's just stage crew, right? She has enough time since she can pick things up quickly." He handed his partner a box labeled “wigs” which Yatori promptly placed next to the rest of the costume boxes.

The same boy sighed, "She says she needs to focus on her grades more and that she can't afford to put any more time into the club. You know how her parents are about grades- if she doesn’t get her act together we could lose one of our strongest members."

"I know…wait, you already asked her?"

Yatori smiled knowingly, "I knew you'd want to,"

The director let out a large breath of relief that he’d been keeping in for the past hour, "God, you know me so well,"

"Yeah, I know,"

"What did I do to deserve you?" Takashi rested his head on the taller male’s shoulders.

Yatori responded by wrapping his arms around the director’s waist, "I could ask you the same thing- Hey, Takashi?”

“Mmm?”

“I think I just found our new Ophelia,” the taller male said with a smile. He pointed over Takashi’s shoulder.

The director’s face broke into a grin as his eyes landed on their _perfect_ substitute. “Hey Nezumi! Could you come here for a second?”           

 

* * *

 

 Somehow, Shion had found himself in the front row of his school’s auditorium a week after seeing Eve’s portrait. After a little asking around and more than a little eavesdropping, he’d learned that Eve was going to be in the next school play. He didn’t usually go see the plays, but he made a point to show up early to get a good seat. He also didn’t know much about the show- they were supposed to read _Hamlet_ later on that year- but he didn’t want to Google it out of fear of spoiling it for himself.

The room slowly filled with more and more people until half about of the seats were occupied and Shion’s thoughts drifted to Eve for the millionth time that week. He had made up his mind to catch Eve after the show was over. He’d introduce himself and…and…well, he could never get past that part, but, being the optimist he was, he was feeling good about it.

The lights dimmed, signaling the beginning of the show and the end of Shion’s inner monologue.

The curtains opened to a simple castle set that was neither grand nor sparse. Shion’s attention moved to the far right as a boy stepped out of the wings and straight to center stage.

“Who’s there?” said the boy.

 

* * *

 

Things were going great. Just moments ago, Hamlet had delivered his famous “to be or not to be” line, and now Ophelia was giving her post-confrontation monologue. Eve was Ophelia- a surprise which Shion had not been expecting but one he wasn’t opposed to. He made an excellent Ophelia who was incredibly believable and easy  to sympathize with. Shion thought that out of everyone, Eve shone the most by far, but then again, he was rather biased…

 Just as Eve- er, Ophelia- reached out to the audience with a face of pure despair, something changed. A curling of the hands, a recess of the arms, a widening of the eyes, a scrunching of the face. And all of a sudden, Eve was stumbling, hunched over, before crumpling to the ground.

The audience gasped and Shion’s heart stopped. _He’s fine. He just slipped. He’ll get up in a second, right? I just have to stay calm._ But it had been more than a second and Eve was still on the ground. The room began to fill with the murmurs of concerned audience members. _“Is she okay?” “Does she need help?” “Was that part of the script?”_ “ _He’s not moving…”_

Shion didn’t think.

Thinking back on it, it was like his body moved on its own without bothering to consult his brain. Before he realized he’d moved, he was out of his chair and on the stage with Eve in his arms. Shion realized- to his surprise- that despite being the taller of the two, Eve was very light and easy to scooped up bridal style and promptly carry off the stage.

The director then rushed onto the stage in a nervous flutter, explaining that Eve had collapsed and that they would have to end the show early, but that they would try to keep their other show dates. He apologized with a bow, the curtains closed, and the lights went up. But Shion didn’t care about any of that, he just wanted to know if Eve was okay.

“I am so sorry about all of this, thank you for getting him over here,” said the director after leaving the stage and coming to Shion, “There should’ve been someone in the wings to do what you did, but there had actually been an accident backstage just before so everyone was helping out there,” he sighed, “Honestly, it’s like someone said the ‘M’ word or something. Anyways, thank you again. What’s your name?”

“Shion. My name is Shion. I actually came here to see Eve perform.” _Why did I tell him that? Stupid, stupid, now I sound like a creepy fan or a stalker._

“Well I’m sorry you couldn’t see more. Luckily the school nurse was in the audience and she said it was just a typical case of overexertion. He’s still knocked out, but he should come to if you want to stick around,”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ve actually got somewhere to be pretty soon. But could you do me a favor and tell him something?”

“Sure, what do you want to say?”

 

* * *

 

“Overexertion?”

“Yes! Gosh Eve, if you were so stressed, why didn’t you say something?”

“I-“

“No no, don’t say anything. This is all my fault. I should’ve just bitten the bullet and moved the show date. It was selfish of me to push this part on you with a week to memorize everything. I am so, so sorry, Eve.”

“You don’t have to apologize, it was my own fault for pushing myself past my limits. I was irresponsible, and I’m very sorry,” said Nezumi with a bow, “I just hope that you’ll continue to let me stay in the theater club.”

“Of course you’re still in! You may have passed out, but you’re ability to pick up things quickly is amazing! I’d be in serious trouble if I let a talent like you slip away.”

The dark-haired boy smiled in a way that even reached his dark eyes. “Good.”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot! There’s one more thing that you should know about tonight.”

“Mmm?”

“This boy totally came onto the stage like a knight in shining armor, scooped you up into his arms, and carried you off stage. It was certainly a sight to see, it’s a shame you were to busy being unconscious.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, he said his name was Shion. White hair, pretty red eyes, a birthmark on his cheek. He looked pretty dorky but he was still able to carry you without any trouble at all. Do you know him?”

Nezumi wasn’t paying attention to Takashi, for his brain was too busy imploding. This was the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened. Nezumi had sworn to steer clear of this person only for him to come see the show and, even worse, carry him off stage like Nezumi was some sort of damsel in distress. Why couldn’t this person just leave Nezumi alone and let him fade back into the background?

“And that’s not all. He said that he wants to see you at school tomorrow and he gave me this to give to you.” Takashi handed Nezumi a piece of hastily-folded paper, which he opened. The handwriting was slanted and scratchy, and Nezumi had to look at it for a little to make out what it said:

 

**Eve,**

**Meet me in the auditorium right after school tomorrow. I’ll be waiting.**

**-Shion**

 

“No. Nope. Absolutely not.” Nezumi crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it into the nearest trash can.

“Oh c’mon Eve, he _rescued you._ The least you can do is go see him to thank him.” Takashi shook his head, “Geeze, this is material straight out of a fairy tale for crying out loud! What more do you want from him? To arrive riding a white horse? Do you know how many people would _kill_ to be in the position you’re in? Honestly.”

The dark-haired boy-who-presently-looked-like-a-girl had to repress the urge to roll his eyes at Takeshi’s dramatics and instead chose to focus on the matter at hand, “I know, I know, but…wait, how did you know the paper told me to go meet him?”

“Okay, so I might’ve peeked while you were still knocked out…” said the director sheepishly.

“I’m not meeting him, Takashi.”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

 

* * *

 

…That’s what he’d said, so why was it that the next day, Nezumi stood in front of the doors to the auditorium after the last bell?

_I can’t believe I’m actually here._

Well, Takashi _had_ made a compelling argument, one that had involved a threat to not let him stay in the theater club. Of course, Nezumi knew that it was just a joke meant to tease him, but he showed up anyway. After thinking about it during the school day and the night prior, Nezumi had come to the realization that he’d probably inconvenienced Shion by trying to avoid him. Shion had to be as confused about this whole endeavor as Nezumi was, and it was simply unfair to force Shion to deal with this problem on his own without any form of explanation of why things could never be. That was a fact even the stubborn Nezumi couldn’t argue with.

So with great reluctance, Nezumi pushed on the doors to the auditorium and stepped inside.

All of the lights over the seating area were turned off, but towards the front of the room all of the stage lights were on at full power. Standing at center stage was a short male with snow-white hair who was looking more than a little nervous, his body swaying back in forth in a way that reminded Nezumi of the days when he used to have stage fright. The sheer brightness of the stage lights made Shion look washed out- so pale he was almost translucent- like a ghost. His small back was turned to Nezumi, which he was both grateful and disdainful of. On the one hand, Nezumi was able to get in a few good seconds of not having to make actual eye contact while he made his way up to the stage. But on the other hand, the lack of acknowledgement just made everything more prolonged and suspenseful. He was really just delaying the inevitable.

His heart was certainly getting into the mood of the buildup, slowly increasing its pace until it was all he could hear- it felt like his body was on over drive with everything working a million times too fast for him to keep up.

Every part of his body was telling him to turn around, get the hell out, and forget about everything remotely involving this boy named Shion. And yet his feet kept taking him closer and closer to the boy, closer and closer to this fateful moment.

_What the hell is wrong with me? There’s nothing wrong with meeting up with someone after school, there’s no reason for me to be making such a big deal about this. I’ll just keep it short and refuse any attempt for us to continue any form of contact. Then I’ll leave and everything will be fine. It’ll all be fine._

Once they were both on the stage, Shion turned to face Nezumi. There was enough space between them to be right on the border between ‘just right’ and ‘too far away’. They were cautious, they were careful, they were curious.

_It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine, it’ll be…_

“Nezumi,” said Shion with a look that was a mix of joy and restraint.

_Fine._

Nothing was fine.

_Shion._

“How do you know my name?” was the first thing Nezumi said to his soul mate. Not exactly the kindest of greetings (if you could even call that a greeting), but Nezumi figured he could’ve done a lot worse. Still, it was the first thing that came to his lips and it was a hell of a lot better than starting with something sappy. Plus, he was genuinely curious. The note had addressed him as Eve, the same name that people spoke of in the hallways and the same name that appeared on the playbill for the play Shion had seen him perform in. So how was it that he’d learned Nezumi’s real name? As far as Nezumi was concerned, no one in the school had pieced together the connection between ‘Nezumi’ and ‘Eve’, so how…

“Ah, well, it’s kind of a weird story…”

 

* * *

 

The morning after the showing of _Hamlet,_ Safu was not in a very good mood, “SHION!” Her voice was loud and forceful, her face hard enough to make the toughest, coolest guys in school back off to give her some space.

Shion turned, shoulders hunched in a cringe, to see the hallway traffic part like the Red Sea to allow Safu to pass.

He was in for a heaping amount of trouble, but for what he just couldn’t fathom. The last time Shion had seen Safu so angry was in the third grade when he’d accidentally super glued her pigtails to her desk. The custodian hadn’t been able to detach her after working at it for the better part of an hour and she’d wound up having to get the whole thing chopped off. Shion had never been as scared as he was when she’d shown up to school the next day with extremely short hair and had given him a death glare that chilled down to the bone.

But now, as he looked at his best friend slowly closing in on him, he felt as if he’d surpassed that fear from so many years ago. Yeah, Safu was _pissed_ , and whatever he’d done to get her this way was going to be profusely apologized about very very soon.

“H-hi Safu. What’s up?”

“What’s up? Don’t you _dare_ start that with me. I know what you did and there’s no hiding it from me. What I want to know is why. Why didn’t you _listen to what I told you_? And even then, why didn’t you _at least_ tell me what happened?”

Before Shion could dig his grave even deeper by asking what he’d done, Safu produced a bundle of papers. Upon closer inspection, those bundle of papers turned out to be the latest copy of the school newspaper, which had apparently been issued that day. And upon even closer inspection, Shion noticed the large picture on the front page.

It was of him scooping up Nezumi in his arms during the play from the night before! The headline read “High School Heroics! _Hamlet_ Showing Takes a Surprise Twist Ending!”

_Oh man._

“Listen, Safu, I-“

“No, I’m not finished with you yet. Do you even realize who it was that you picked up?”

“Yeah, that was Eve. I went to the showing so that I could see him perform.” Shion had absolutely no idea why he mentioned that part, in fact, it felt like he had only made his sitution worse. But it was too late to take it back.

“Shion, that’s _Nezumi._ ”

Shion stared at her blankly. _Where have I heard that name before?_

“I can’t believe this. You seriously don’t remember? _Nezumi!_ As in the delinquent new student whom I _specifically told you to avoid!_ God, I can’t believe you! You pinky promised me that you would avoid him and yet you go and do something like this…And you didn’t even tell me about it!”

Things were all starting to come together in Shion’s mind. He felt like a jerk since Safu was completely right, but he also wasn’t sorry. He and Eve- er- Nezumi, were meant to meet, and that’s something that even a pinky promise couldn’t stop from happening.

After noticing a small crowd forming around them, Shion pulled Safu into an empty classroom and slowly explained everything that had happened over the past week. When he was done, Safu left him with a simple “I understand.”

Shion hated leaving it on such a solemn and uncompromised note, but he also realized that there was nothing else he could say. He had told Safu everything there was to know- it was her job to figure out how to handle it from then on. Did that hurt? Yes, it did. Was Shion satisfied with that? Not in the slightest. But this wasn’t about Shion anymore.

And besides, he had another, more pressing matter to attend to than Safu. A matter that could define the rest of his life.

Nezumi.

 

* * *

 

“…Let’s just say a friend told me.” _Or at least, I hope I can still call her a friend._ “That doesn’t matter right now. I think you know why I called you here.”

Nezumi nodded.

“When did you know?”

“The morning after the fire drill.” _So the same time as me, if not earlier._

“Did you know that it was me?”

“Yes.” The way he answered Shion was strange, like he was a robot who said as few words as possible. There was no emotion behind them. And there was no restraint.

Finally, it was time for the question Shion had been wondering about this entire time. “Did you…did you try to find me?”

“No.”

 _No?_ That was _not_ the answer Shion was expecting. He’d always pictured Nezumi illustrating the story of how he kept failing to find Shion but never gave up hope, not this. Fear clawed at his heart as it dawned on him for the first time that Nezumi didn’t want to meet him. Shion had just burdened him with something troublesome. Nezumi was so talented and good-looking; maybe Shion didn’t meet his standards. After all, he was short, nerdy, skinny-as-a-pole, and overall not that exciting. Hell, if he were Nezumi, he’d be disappointed that his other half was so average. Still, he had to know the reason why. If he didn’t ask, it’d surely drive him mad.

“Why not?” His voice was starting to sound hurt and he could feel tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes. _No, I can’t cry in front of him. I have to remain calm._

Nezumi sighed, “Look, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, but there’s something you seem to be missing so listen up. I don’t know how you see me, but I’m not a good person for you. It’s as simple as that.”

“Why? How can you say we’re incompatible when we haven’t even met?” Anger tipped his words, giving them a bite that he hadn’t intended.

“Because you’re a super smart star student and I’m a screw up with a bad reputation.”

“No, you’re-“

“Yes I am! And it doesn’t matter what you say, this is the last time we’re going to meet. We can’t be together and that’s final. Goodbye, Shion.” Nezumi turned and headed for the stage stairs.

This was bad. Nezumi, his soul mate, _his_ Nezumi was walking away with a simple ‘Goodbye forever.’ If he didn’t do something quick, Shion would be forced to let Nezumi go. So, without any further thought or planning, Shion said the first thing that came to his lips.

“I don’t see a screw up when I look at you!” Nezumi stopped but didn’t turn around. “I see a talented person who has allowed the words people say about him to become true. I see someone who can captivate people with his words and expressions on a stage. I see someone who can paint emotions and feelings onto a canvass. I see someone who I barely know but want to get close to.” With every statement Shion took a step closer until there was an arm’s length between him and Nezumi’s back.

Nezumi’s voice was low and quiet, “Then you need to get your eyes checked because-“

“I have 20/20 vision!” Shion exclaimed with a laugh. He may be a dork for answering literally, and his laugh may have been a sign of his desperation, but he knew he was doing the right thing. His heart told him that he was right.

Nezumi turned and stared into Shion’s eyes for a long time, as if he was searching for something that only he knew of. Shion stared back at eyes that were so dark they reflected his image back at him. He had no idea what Nezumi was thinking behind those eyes, but he wouldn’t back down.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Nezumi sighed, seemingly coming to some sort of conclusion. Slowly, Shion watched as the tall boy’s defenses slowly began to come down one by one until he was left with a very serious, slightly scared-looking Nezumi.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked after a moment of silence.

Shion answered without missing a beat. “Absolutely.”

“I don’t think this is going to be as easy as you think it is.”

“That’s okay. I’ll have you to help me through it.”

“I…This won’t be able to move quickly…”

“That’s good. I wanna take it slow.” Shion smiled brightly to show Nezumi that everything was okay. And it would be, as long as they were together.

They didn’t say anything after that- there was nothing else that needed to be said. So they walked out of the auditorium together with their pinkies touching, not quite holding hands, but it was a start. _Their_ start. And they were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this chapter sounds very end-of-the-entire-fic-ish, but I promise it's not! There's still more in store for Shion and Nezumi ;)


	5. Grinning Without Realizing It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪Oh, you put my life in motion  
> Your love makes me want to give my all.  
> Ready set go  
> Ready set go.  
> So no, I’m not holding back anymore.  
> Like an engine ready to explode.  
> I’m ready set go  
> Ready set go.♪
> 
> -Ready Set Go by Royal Tailor
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? An early update?!  
> Yeah, so as of today I'm on vacation! Seeing as I'm probably going to be exhausted for the next couple of days, I decided to release chapter 5 early. Yay for planning ahead!  
> I chose these lyrics for the chapter summary because they reminded me of the only Nezumi POV portion of this chapter. Let me know if they remind you of that too :P  
> Speaking of the chapter summary, I've made a playlist with all of the songs that I use for chapter summaries. It goes in order of chapter so the first song is for chapter 1. Said playlist can be found at the end of this note as well as at the bottom of every chapter summary.  
> I'm going to apologize in advance for a kind of boring chapter :/ It's a little shorter than my chapters usually are and not a lot happens, however I didn't want to start new content just to end it after 300 words. I promise things will get more interesting in chapter 6!  
> As always, thank you all so much for the kudos and nice comments. It always makes me smile when I wake up to an email notification of a new comment or new kudos.
> 
> *EDIT 8/7* Make sure to read the august 7th edits to the end notes ;)
> 
>  
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

The moments from there were ethereal, so much so that Shion had to remind himself when he got home that no, everything hadn’t been just a dream and had, in fact, happened. He and Nezumi had walked to the school parking lot together and said their quiet goodbyes when they arrived at Nezumi’s motorcycle- he rides a motorcycle!

They hadn’t hugged or anything, but they hadn’t needed to right then- they had plenty of time. Before climbing on and speeding away, Nezumi pulled a slip of paper from his jacket and hastily wrote something on it, handing it to Shion, who stowed it away for later. Shion watched him leave until his figure dipped past his point of vision and then he started his walk home.

The entirety of which Shion tried (and failed) to keep his fantasies of riding the bike together with Nezumi out of his head. Fantasies of him sitting behind Nezumi, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s waist, Nezumi’s long hair occasionally tickling Shion’s nose as the wind played with it, and then resting his cheek on Nezumi’s back, squeezing tighter to feel Nezumi’s stomach-

NO! He would not think about that again! Absolutely not. He had things to do, important things like homework and…uh…other stuff which would come to him later. Yeah, so daydreaming about Nezumi was absolutely not something that was going to happen.

The boy sat down at his small wooden desk, which was extremely cluttered and organized in a way that only Shion could discern. Some called it a mess; Shion called it organized chaos.

Shoving books and loose papers out of the way, he made room for his enormous AP chemistry textbook that could probably be registered as a weapon from its sheer weight alone. Shion was glad that his teacher had a class set of these in the classroom because if he’d been forced to carry it around in his backpack all day he was sure he’d end up looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

His teacher had been feeling rather merciful that day, only assigning 20 problems to be completed over the weekend. This was an easy task; Shion knew he could probably finish this in half an hour his sleep so finishing it now would be child’s play!

Yup, no fantasies here. It was just Shion and some chem. problems. No Nezumi here. Nope. He wasn’t going to think about long, silky dark hair that floated like feathers on the wind. He wasn’t going to think about the way that a certain someone tried to keep that same hair back in a ponytail but how one strand seemed to always slip out in front of his face. He wouldn’t think about how Nezumi would blow the strand out of his face without even realizing how cute and vulnerable that made him look.

No no no. That wasn’t going to happen, and that didn’t happen. He was just…a little distracted. He just needed to warm up, that was all. He would be fine now. _C’mon, just think of elements. Like Carbon, number atomic number 6, atomic mass of 12.01, can be used to make diamond and graphite and…_

Charcoal, like deep, dark, familiar eyes that reminded Shion of a starry sky with the way they reflected light back at him. And then there was flawless skin that Shion remembered felt feather-soft when their pinkies touched just moments ago. Oh, and he certainly wasn’t going to think about caressing his cheek or hugging him in the school hallways, nor would he think of brushing that stray strand of hair out of his face. And he wouldn’t think about how they’d lock eyes, Shion’s breath catching in his throat when Nezumi would bring him closer and then lean in for their lips to…to…

And he was doing it _again_! He slammed his calculus textbook shut with a loud _BANG!_ , causing his entire desk to shake and make creaks that threatened breakage. Shion groaned and let his head rest on top of the heavy tome. What was he going to do if not even chemistry, his usual go-to method of focus, couldn’t keep his attention for more than a handful of minutes? What was he going to do?

He turned his head slightly to the left, allowing his eyes to skim over the chaos that was his desk. Let’s see, there was the pottery dog failure from first semester of art class, the first place spelling bee trophy from elementary school, a crazy stack of untouched binder clutter from when he’d emptied out his school bag a few weeks ago, a dirty coffee mug, and his music folder.

 _My music folder, that’s it!_ He may not be able to focus on his homework now, but he was sure he could hunker down and work more on his musical baby.

He got up from his desk and left his room. The study was across the hallway from his room, but Shion took a quick detour to the stairs leading to the shop on the first floor. He poked his head in just long enough to see his mother beginning to close down the shop. There was only one more person left in the shop so it wouldn’t be a problem if he started playing as long as he put the damper down for the first couple of minutes.

Turning, he dashed back up the stairs and allowed his socked feet to carry him the rest of the way into the study. He left the door open in case he mom would need any help cleaning up downstairs.

The boy sat at the piano, the bench creaking against his weight but not giving out, and placed his sheet music and a pencil on the music stand.

The song, which, in the week he’d spent, trying to find Nezumi, had gotten almost completely finished. It was weird, whenever he’d think about Nezumi the notes would begin to flow effortlessly onto the page. Shion liked to think that Nezumi had become a sort of muse for him and he resolved to show his soul mate the song once he was done.

Now that he thought of it, Shion still didn’t know who had sung this song in the choir room that day. Between school and questing for Nezumi, that small moment seemed almost a lifetime away despite being roughly two weeks ago.

There was only the end that he had to write, a mere 20 bars, 4/4 time for a total of 80 beats. This should be easy but for some reason nothing he’d thought of thus far seemed good enough. He wanted something big that let whoever was listening know that this was the end of the song. He wanted it to leave an impression but not be super flashy.

Finally after a few minutes of staring at the music staff with pencil in hand, he resolved to playing the last part that he’d written- maybe if he heard what he needed to add onto he’d get an idea of where to start.

However, right when he pressed his fingers down to play the first chord his mother called. “Shion! Could you come down here for a second please?”

“Figures,” he said with a said with a small smile, then, louder, “Coming mama!”

           

* * *

 

 “What’s up?” her son asked when he stepped into the shop. There were no more customers left in the front, so he found his her back in the kitchen area, wrapping up the overnight dough and putting the leftover bread into a bag that she’d take to the food pantry the next morning.

Karan was no fool. She’d known from the very beginning that something special had happened to Shion, and she had a pretty good idea about what it was. Even without her natural mom instincts, his eyes were a dead giveaway. Normally Shion would approach her first and spill everything that was on his mind so she’d been waiting for him to find the right time, however it seemed like he’d been a bit preoccupied lately. Knowing her son, Karan figured he must need a little push in the right direction. The tricky part was finding the right “push”.

“I just want to know how school’s been going for you. I know I’ve been pretty busy with the new shop menu lately, but I just thought it might be nice to chat for a bit. Here.” She handed him a chocolate croissant, his favorite since childhood and known weakness, and led him to the kitchen table at the back of the store. Karan sat across from him with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

“School has been pretty good for me,” Shion started with a smile, “Chemistry has been pretty fun lately. We’re doing a unit on solutions that has a bunch of really easy math. We’re supposed to move onto solutions next unit, which is supposed to have a bunch of labs with it, I’m pretty excited!” He took a bite of his treat and couldn’t help but let his pleasure show on his face.

Karan chuckled. Not many kids these days got excited about school, not like Shion did. She was grateful she had a child that was so clearly enthusiastic about learning. “That’s good to hear! I know you’ll do great. You’ve always had a natural knack for all things science.”

They munched on their treats for a bit longer before Karan decided to switch gears. “What’ve you been working on on the piano lately? It sounds really pretty.”

“Oh…um, it’s actually a weird story,” started Shion. He scratched his head and…was that blush she saw?

_I think I’ve finally struck gold._

Shion continued.“I heard someone sing it a little while ago and ever since I’ve wanted to write a piano piece for it.”

“I see. Will you play it for that person when you’re finished?”

“Well, the thing is I don’t know who sang it- I just overheard it.”

“…But I do have someone that I want to play it for.”

This was it. This was what Karan wanted to hear. She could tell it by Shion’s face alone. He ducked his head down and smiled wide. His eyes sparkled in a way Karan had never seen before, and his hands clenched tightly in his lap. She’d always been able to read her son, like any mother could, and she knew love when she saw it.

“Oh? And who would that be?”

“Well, his name is Nezumi. I actually just met him today, but…he’s the one, Mama.”

He looked up at her and smiled in that semi-foolish, melt-your-heart-like-butter sort of way. And at that moment, Karan couldn’t be more proud of her son. He was in love. Foolishly, full-heartedly, purely, helplessly in love. And she had to admit that his smile was extremely contagious because she was smiling too and asking him to “please go on”.

More smiles and Shion began to gush with minor details, painting a picture of Nezumi in her mind. Actually, now that she thought of it, she was pretty sure she’d seen such a boy in her shop. It was only once and he’d worn sunglasses at the time so she hadn’t realized he was Shion’s soul mate, but he’d been very polite and complimented her on the nice atmosphere of the shop. Before she’d realized, he’d disappeared, gone without a trace.

She had a feeling she’d be seeing more of him in the near future.

Shion talked about Nezumi and the circumstances in which they’d met for the next couple of minutes. She had to admit she wouldn’t have put it past Shion to not realize he’d met his soul mate, but she was glad things had straightened out. After they’d eaten, Shion helped Karan finish cleaning off before he went back upstairs to continue writing.

As she watched Shion move up the stairs, she smiled to herself. _He’d certainly grown into a fine man. I wish his father were here to see this too…_

* * *

 

Somehow talking to his mom had given him a clear picture of how he wanted the song to end. Remembering the small amount of time he’d spent searching for Nezumi and recalling all of the fine details about him had cleared his head of all of the distractions that’d been inhibiting his progress. He didn’t need to worry about flashiness or glamour, nor did he need to worry about how impactful it’d be. He knew that as long as he kept Nezumi in mind while writing it would turn out perfect.

So this time, he allowed his mind to wander, allowed it to steer off the tracks of focus and into the unchartered recesses of his mind. Shion recalled every moment that he’d spent with Nezumi. Every breath, every movement, every laugh. And, just like he’d done in English class, Shion began to write without really focusing on what he was writing. He only felt, leading by sheer instinct and feeling alone.

In what felt like a heartbeat, it was done. It was 3 in the morning, but it was done, and he was exhausted. He left his finished masterpiece on the piano and shuffled quietly to his room, taking great care to avoid the floorboards that he knew made loud creaking noises.

He glanced at the alarm clock on his room. _3:00?! Geeze, no wonder I feel so tired._ Apparently what had felt like an hour had actually been four. Yawning, he moved to his dresser to change into his comfiest pair of pajamas, the fuzzy ones with the cats on them. Sure they looked out of place on a teenaged boy, but Shion was willing to sacrifice face for comfort.

When he picked up his jeans to put in the laundry a slip of paper fell out from his pocket. _Oh yeah, I still haven’t looked at the paper Nezumi gave me._ He was going to solve that problem right now.

Shion snatched the paper slip up from the floor, making sure unfold it with care. On it were some hastily scribbled yet still cleanly written numbers, ten in total.

“This is…” Nezumi’s number.

Shion smiled as he fished his phone from his pockets. Nezumi was trying. This wasn’t just something he’d been dragged into kicking and screaming. Sure, this was a very small thing, but to Shion it meant the world. There’d always been a small part of him that worried that would be the only one to put effort into their relationship, especially when Nezumi had told Shion he hadn’t even tried to meet him.

He fumbled with his phone as he created Nezumi’s contact. He wondered for a second if he should add anything to Nezumi’s name like a heart or a smiley or…No, that was stupid, forget it. Just Nezumi would work, no need to try to be creative.

He hit [okay] and stared at the new contact that was, in Shion’s eyes, painfully sparse. No birthday, no middle or last name, not even a contact picture. Just a grey silhouette and a first name. That wasn’t surprising considering the fact that they’d met not even a day ago, but it was a stark visualization of everything he had left to learn of his mysterious soul mate. He hoped he’d be able to fill this contact to the brim with information and meaningless details in the future.

He crawled into bed and wormed his way into his fluffy comforter that was soft and warm and welcoming. Fatigue was tugging at the edges of his eyes, beckoning for him to sleep, but he still had one more issue to sort out first.

_Do I text him now, or do I wait?_

It was late- midnight late. It would make sense for a student to be asleep at this hour. Then again, it was a Friday, so there were probably those that chose to stay up late and party. Shion didn’t peg Nezumi as the partying type of guy, but he didn’t eliminate the possibility of him still being up. Nezumi didn’t have Shion’s number, so he’d _have_ to be the first person to start up a conversation. And on top of that, Shion _wanted_ to talk to Nezumi. But then again, what if he sent the text and wound up waking Nezumi up? That certainly wasn’t something Shion wanted to do…

Why was this even such a big issue in the first place? He should be able to text Nezumi whenever he felt like it without having to go through an entire debate. He _should._ But he couldn’t. This was Nezumi, _his_ Nezumi whom he didn’t want to make any mistakes around or anger. Shion _couldn’t_ mess this up.

After staring at his phone and watching the battery slowly deplete, he found the courage to send Nezumi a text. There was no point putting off something that he needed to do so he wanted to just get it over with. Five minutes were spent writing a greeting and then deleting it before it could be sent. If he was going to take this risk, it had to be _flawless._

 

Shion (2:07am): Hello, this is Shion.

 

Short, simple, clean. There was absolutely no place for him to mess up. Triple checking the spelling, he read over it once more “just in case” and pushed [send].

With that out of the way, Shion plugged his phone into the outlet beside his bed and let himself finally relax back.

When his head hit his pillow, sleep was instant, as if someone had blown out the candle on his consciousness. He fell into a deep, comforting sleep. He may have dreamed; he didn’t remember in the morning. But he woke up feeling warm.

 

* * *

 

Minutes after saying goodbye to Shion, Nezumi was in shambles. How had things managed to go so wrong in such a small amount of time? He’d walked into the room fully confident with a rock-hard resolve backing him up. And then…and then he’d seen Shion, that’s what’d happened, because it was right after when everything had changed, deviated from the plan. The moment he’d laid eyes on Shion, Nezumi been rendered unable to hold up much of a fight. It was impossible to argue when Shion looked at him with his eyes; those large, red, completely honest eyes.

Not only that, but Nezumi had been entirely vulnerable to Shion’s sweet words, words that he hadn’t been prepared to hear. Nezumi thought that he’d considered every possibility before he’d walked into that room. He’d prepared for Shion to not understand, and, above all else, he’d prepared to deal with Shion’s anger. What he hadn’t thought to protect himself from was Shion’s kind words that felt like a dream. They were words that Nezumi had always wanted to hear someone say to him genuinely, despite what he may say. Shion had done that. He had talked about Nezumi like he was a normal person. And his heart had given in because of it.

Nezumi cursed his own weakness but kept his self-directed anger to a low simmer. Like it or not, he was in this position because he’d put himself there. And since that was the case, he was going to put his best foot forward; Nezumi never did anything half assed. It was silly and childish to believe that he’d never meet his soul mate as long as he didn’t accurately pursue it. Soul mates were things of destiny after all they weren’t something that you could hide from. Shion was his soul mate. He had looked for Nezumi for an entire week without giving up and that effort was worthy to be merited.

Nezumi resolved to give this whole soul mate thing a try. It couldn’t hurt if he was paired with someone like Shion, who, from what Nezumi had gathered from their small meeting, was like the human version of a bunny. Maybe, _maybe_ this could work and turn into something beautiful. _Maybe._ He intended to put in the effort needed to keep up a relationship.But he still wasn’t going to hold his breath.

 

* * *

 

Shion’s eyes flitted open at 8 the next morning. He groaned when his eyes focused on the alarm clock that proudly showed the ungodly hour he’d woken up at. The problem with school starting so early was that his body was unable to sleep in on weekends, a fact that was hurting him especially now since he’d stayed up far past his bedtime the previous night.

_[Bleep!] [Bleep!]_

Sitting up and yawning, Shion reached over his nightstand to fish for his cell phone. He had one new message.

 

Nezumi (8:01am): Hey, do you wanna hang out today?

 

His arm spazzed and flung his phone across the room. It slammed into his bedroom door with a loud _CRACK!_

 _I shouldn’t have done that! I should_ not _have done that!_

Throwing off his comforter, Shion rushed to the other side of the room and picked his phone back up, chastising himself the whole way. Once he finished performing a full damage evaluation the boy sighed in relief. No damages.

That hadn’t been his coolest of maneuvers but at least his phone wasn’t cracked. Shion slid down to the floor and held his phone to his chest as memories of the night before started to come back to him. Meeting Nezumi, touching hands, texting him for the first time. His chest swelled with warmth. He hadn’t been expecting to hear from Nezumi so early and he _definitely_ wasn’t expecting a date invitation.

           

Shion (8:03am): Sure! Where do you want to go?

Nezumi (8:06am): It’s a surprise. Let’s meet at the train station by the school.

Shion (8:07am): OK. What time?

Nezumi (8:09am): How about 11?

Shion (8:10am): That’s good for me. I’ll see you then.

 

A date with Nezumi! Shion was positively _elated!_

He got up from the floor and practically bounced down the hall to the bathroom. Half way through his bathroom routine, Shion stopped and looked at himself in the mirror as a certain thought crossed his mind.

Was this even a date? Were Shion and Nezumi even dating? They hadn’t come out and said anything official the day prior, they’d simply agreed to continue to make contact. Nezumi had given Shion his number but that wasn’t anything more than a simple friend would do.

Well, _Shion_ wantedto be in a relationship with Nezumi, but how did _Nezumi_ feel? Shion didn’t know. Yet. But he would find out. Today. He’d find out today when he went to see Nezumi.

“Shion! Could you help me open up?” called his mom from downstairs. He shouldn’t dwell on what may or may not be. For now, all he could do was move forward.

“One second!” Shion called back, “Just let me get dressed!”

He finished up in the bathroom and moved back down the hall and into his bedroom. When he opened his dresser, he was faced with a problem. He needed to get dressed in clothes that were suitable for a date. _But what does one wear on a date?_ Assuming this outing _was_ a date. Shion had never been on a date in his life. Was he supposed to dress up? Or was it normal to just wear street clothes?

He didn’t have time to worry about that either. So he grabbed one of his nicer street shirts and a pair of khakis and hurried downstairs.

The shop opened at 8 every morning except for Sundays and every day there was a line waiting to come in. Shion could tell that the line was already going out the door, as it did most days. Karan was an unusual talent who was arguably the most popular food shop in the area, so it made sense that Saturday mornings would be the extremely popular and extremely busy.

He had to wrestle a bit to get behind the counter to where his mom was doing a million things at once. Shion took a moment to wonder if he inherited her gift for multitasking before he grabbed his apron from its hook.

“Shion! Great timing. Could you work the second register please?”

“Leave it to me,”

 

* * *

 

At 10:30, Shion was waiting in front of the train station, nervously gripping the bottom of his shirt as if it would somehow wring out all of his nerves. It didn’t

For the tenth time in five minutes, Shion glanced at the clock above the ticket prices. He was _seriously_ early but he hadn’t wanted to risk the chance of being late. So here he was, half and hour early, looking like a lost kid in a busy sea of people. To kill time he began to people watch. At a place like the station, there were a wide range of people that passed through. Men, women, old young, boys, girls, dogs, you name it.

Shion watched as a handful of girls dressed in cute dresses showed up and began to wait, much like him. One by one they left before Shion. One, he noted, griped at her date who’d been late, though how late Shion had no idea.

He was half way through his wait, he could do this. An old lady carrying multiple pieces of luggage began to hobble across Shion’s vision, her small arms shaking with the weight of her load.

“Excuse me miss, would you like a hand with your things?” Shion asked, moving from his post by the clock.

“Oh, I couldn’t ask that from such a handsome boy like you. Aren’t you waiting for someone?”

“I am but he won’t be here for another fifteen minutes. Until then, I’m all yours!” Shion smiled and held out his arms.

“That’s very kind of you, dear. If it isn’t too much trouble, you could help me walk to the parking lot. My son should be there to help me get these to my house.”

Shion took the bags from the gracious woman, who thanked him the whole walk to the parking lot. It was a short walk and soon he was helping the woman’s son load the luggage into the back of his car.

The mother and son bowed their thanks before speeding away. Feeling like he’d done something good, Shion turned and walked back to the station.

            There, standing in the exact same place that Shion had been just a few minutes before, was Nezumi. Dressed in dark jeans, a red T-shirt, and his usual black leather jacket, Nezumi stood out from the crowd. Shion looked at his khaki shorts and wondered first how Nezumi was able to dress like that with the weather and second if he’d look out of place standing next to Nezumi.

“Hey!” Shion called as he made his way to Nezumi, “You’re early.”

“So are you. Are you ready to go?”

Shion nodded and followed the taller boy when he began to walk. They walked side by side but they did not touch. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?”

“Hmmm, I wonder if I should.” Nezumi tapped his chin and looked at Shion with a playful smirk, “Nope. You’ll just have to wait until we get there.”

Shion puffed out his cheeks, “Awww c’mon! Can’t you give me a hint?”

“Nope. Sorry.”

“Fine, then how about I guess.”

“Sure. Knock yourself out.” Nezumi chuckled, causing Shion to glare at the taller boy.

“Hmmm. The aquarium?” Were aquariums even date spots? Shion didn’t know.

“I dunno, maybe.” Nezumi shrugged, his face giving absolutely nothing away.

“…Is that a yes or a no?”

“A maybe is a maybe. You might be right, but you also might not be right.”

Shion chose to take that as a no and tried again. “Okay…How about the movies?”

“That’s a good guess too. I applaud your effort.” The boy fake applauded Shion with a half smile on his face.

The shorter male sighed, getting the picture, “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Bingo. I’m glad we’re on the right page.”

“But why not?”

Nezumi smiled without showing his teeth. “The surprise is half the fun.”

“Yeah yeah, okay. Whatever you say Mr. Mysterious.”

Nezumi chuckled again.

“Are we at least close?”

“Yeah, we’re actually here. Look, it’s right over there.”

Nezumi pointed to the left and Shion’s eyes followed to see...

“Oh! You mean the-“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no!  
> A cliffhanger has appeared! Cliffhanger using incomplete sentence! It's super effective!  
> Readers take 50 points of damage. Readers use groan! It's not very effective.
> 
> *EDIT 8/7* I wanted to wait a little bit, but I'm bad with keeping secrets XD I have a surprise that I'll hopefully be to explain when chapter 6 goes live. If things go as planned, the next update will be next Thursday. Fingers crossed that things go as planned ;)


	6. Confessions of a Pineapple and Green Pepper Pizza Lover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's take to the streets so we can breathe again.  
> And we scream our names, to the heavens and the plains,  
> Then we'll run like hell and get clear of this place.  
> We'll have more a raging heart than grace.  
> But I'd take that any day, always.  
> -Always by BT
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm a day late. BUT I did finish the surprise I talked about last week! I made a one shot spinoff for Safu called [Love At First Sight](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4563543). No idea if any of you will care, but there ya go! :D  
> This chapter was *so* different when I first began writing it than when I actually finished. I had a ton of ideas for what I wanted them to do and it was all just too crowded. So I scrapped those and made up something entirely new, but who knows, maybe those ideas will come into play in other chapters ;)  
> All of your comments made me laugh so hard last week!  
> Shout out to treewhisker and Freckledhorseface for making me laugh so hard I scared my cat.

“…what is that?” asked Shion, his face displaying clear confusion. There was a sort of entrance that opened to the rest of the street, beyond which many people milled about. A long line stretched from the entrance, which told Shion that whatever it was, it was fairly popular. He could hear little kids yelling excitedly and his nose faintly picked up the scent of grease.

Nezumi looked at Shion like he’d just slapped him.

“What?”

“You can’t be serious, Shion.”

“What? I’ve never seen something like this before. What’s so weird about that?”

“Are you trying to tell me that you’ve never been to a street fair before, Shion?”

“A street fair? _Everyone_ has gone to a street fair at least once in their lives. It’s like a staple of childhood!”

Well sure, Shion had _heard_ about street fairs. They were the places greasy food, tricky games, and wild kids called home, but Shion had never been. He’d never had any reason or any person to go with before.

Safu, who was a self renowned clean freak and healthy food enthusiast thought these places were absolutely repulsive. Not to mention she openly hated small children. His mom had always been too busy with the shop to take him whenever there was one in town, especially after his dad died. And Shion refused to go alone.

It wasn’t like he had any problem with not going, though. There was always a good book or homework to occupy his time. Still, there had always been a small part of himself that remained curious about the appeal of the popcorn-scented, kid infested atmosphere of street fairs.

“C’mon, you’re about to figure out what fun is like.” Nezumi grabbed Shion’s hand and led him to the line in front of the fair entrance, moving with slug-like speed to the front of the line.

“I know what fun is,” Shion defended as they inched forward, “I have fun all the time.”

“Sure you do,” said Nezumi, voice heavy with sarcasm. He didn’t believe Shion for one second.

“I do!” exclaimed the shorter boy.

Nezumi crossed his arms. “Okay, how do you have fun?”

“Well…I think it’s fun when we do cool labs in science class.“

Nezumi chuckled, “I should’ve known you’d choose something about school.”

They were at the front of the line now, faced with a teen worker who looked like she’d rather be having brain surgery without anesthesia than standing at the entrance and stamping the hands of fair-goers.

Shion held his hand out to be stamped and gave the girl a look of sympathy while Nezumi ignored her and walked in.

“What? Labs are cool! You get to see things change before your eyes and understand why they do what they do. Don’t tell me you don’t find that interesting.”

“Okay, whatever. But do you ever have fun doing anything outside of school?”

“Of course I can!”

“Alright, what do you do?”

He thought in silence while they walked to nowhere in particular. Whatever he told Nezumi, it had to be good enough to get him to stop teasing him.

“See? You can’t think of anything. Pretty sad.”

“I play piano and that’s pretty fun. There. Now would you stop teasing me?” His cheeks had already started to heat up and Nezumi was _not_ helping.

Still, what he’d said had been genuine. Playing piano was a hobby that he enjoyed, especially lately. Writing the sheet music had become an insanely fun pass time that had stolen more than a few hours of time he usually used to study. He was rather sad that he’d finished it but he figured it was for the best seeing as test season was coming up.

“Really? That’s actually kinda cool. How long have you been playing?”

Shion smiled, “Ever since I was little. We have a piano in my house and I wanted to be able to play songs for my mom.”

“You’ll have to play something for me some time too.”

“Maybe I will.” He smiled to himself, imagining Nezumi sitting besides his piano at home, light streaming in from the open windows, warm wind tousling Nezumi’s long, dark hair, filling the room with the scent of flowers and rain. Shion was sitting at the piano, making up a tune as he went and feeling completely at peace, eyes closed and face smiling. He liked this image a lot.

“So, what do you want to do first?” asked Nezumi, completely unaware that Shion hadn’t been paying attention.

“Uh, I don’t know, what do you suggest?”

“Well, we should probably get some food since it’s around lunch time. Sound good?”

"Yeah,”

Shion followed Nezumi to a long stretch of food stalls. Fried food, candy, meat, vegetables, and everything between could be found in that small bit of land. Shion thought it was fascinating. There were Japanese options like takoyaki and yakisoba, but there were also foreign dishes like pizza, hot dogs, and fried chicken. Nezumi got an order of yakisoba with tons of vegetables and little sauce while Shion picked pizza with green peppers and pineapple.

“I never thought I’d see the day when green peppers and pineapple coexisted on the same slice of pizza. Aren’t they bitter enemies?”

“Nope,” said Shion after a couple of bites, “A lot of people think that but they’re actually best friends.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“And I find it hard to believe that you don’t eat yakisoba with soy sauce.”

Nezumi scrunched up his face, “Why would I? It completely blots out the taste of the vegetables.”

“That’s the point.” Shion gave Nezumi’s vegetables what could only be described as a dirty look.

“You don’t like vegetables?”

Shion shook his head, “Nope.”

“Not even one?”

“Not really. Carrots are okay I guess but that’s about it.”

“You do realize green peppers count as a vegetable, right?”

“They’re technically fruits.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“No, it’s _science._ And I don’t have problems with fruits, just vegetables.”

Nezumi sighed, “Fine. Whatever. When’s the last time you tried a green vegetable?”

“I dunno, when I was little?”

“You should try it again. Your tastes change every seven years. You might like them,” said Nezumi matter-of-factly.

“I doubt it.” Of course Shion had heard that before, but he reluctant to test it on something as nasty as vegetables. He would start small with something like bananas.

“Here, try a piece of my broccoli.” Nezumi held out his fork with a fat piece of broccoli on it.

Shion made a face. He really didn’t like broccoli. It just tasted so _wrong_ in his mouth. “Fine. But only if you try some of my pizza.”

“You’re on.” Nezumi grinned, handing Shion his fork while tearing a bit of pizza from Shion’s place.

“On the count of three,” said Nezumi. “One…two…three!”

Both boys shoved their respective foods into their mouths and chewed. It took about two seconds for the flavors to register.

“Ew!” they exclaimed in unison, grabbing for their drinks to wash down the putrid taste.

“The pineapple is so sweet and the green pepper is so bitter! How can you eat this without retching?” questioned Nezumi.

“You’re one to talk. The broccoli is so strong! It’s like they barely even cooked it! The taste won’t come out of my mouth!” Shion stuck his tongue out, as if air could somehow save his tongue from the awful taste.

But after a moment, they were both laughing.

“You have awful taste in pizza,”

“Well your taste buds just don’t work properly.”

“Yeah, okay. Says the person who can’t handle broccoli. What are you, five?”

“I still don’t get how you can handle that taste. There are so many things wrong with it I could probably write a book on it.”

“I _dare_ you to write a book.”

"Well maybe I will.”

“You can call it ‘Confessions of a Pineapple and Green Pepper Pizza Lover’.”

“I think the title needs a little work.”

“Everybody’s a critic.”

           

* * *

 

“Hey Nezumi, can we try that?” Shion asked, pointing to a stand with a large, covered box.

“You can try, but I don’t think you’ll get much out of it,” said Nezumi. “It’s a game of luck but the odds are completely against you.”

“Sounds interesting.” Shion walked up to the stand.

“Would you like to play?” asked the man behind the stand.

“Sure! What do I do?”

“There are a bunch of balls in this box with different colors. There’s only one gold ball and that’ll you the biggest prize, a trip to the onsen. There are two silver balls with the second biggest prize, three bronze balls with the third biggest prize, and a bunch of other randomly colored balls worth smaller prizes. It costs a dollar to play. What do you say?”

“Alright, I’ll play.” Shion handed the man the money and took a deep breath before sticking his hand in.

_You can do this. There’s nothing to it but luck. Just feel for the right one, let the power of luck guide your hand. Concentrate._

Nezumi was watching him from behind, “Don’t get your hopes up, Shion. It’s almost impossible to get a good-“

Shion brought his hand up to reveal a silver ball.

“-prize.”

“Hey, this is good, right?” Shion asked, showing the ball to the man in charge of the stall.

“Congratulations!” exclaimed the man, “Here’s your prize!” Shion was handed two slips of paper.

Shion smiled and took the paper from him, thanking him before he moved away. _I did it! I wonder what it is…_

“What did you get?” Nezumi asked as they walked away from the stand.

“Oh, curious are we?”

“Sure, whatever you say. Just tell me,”

“Hmm. Not telling,” Shion said with a sly grin, shoving the slips of paper deep into his pockets. He’d have time to look at them when he got home. “This is payback for making me guess earlier.”

"Okay, first off, I didn’t _make_ you guess, though it did make for an interesting source of entertainment.” Shion knew he was wearing his usual lopsided smile without even needing to look at him. “And second, you know the surprise made everything more interesting.”

“Exactly. This will be more interesting when it’s coupled with a surprise…whatever it is.”

“What good will it be to make a prize that’s yours a secret to me?”

“Good point. But I’m still not telling you.”

Shion normally didn’t act like this. He wasn’t playful-, he was shy and awkward, especially around new people. Nezumi could be so obtuse sometimes that Shion was surprised he could keep up at all, let alone tease Nezumi back. What had gotten into him? Had he suddenly changed without realizing it? Or was it just because he was with Nezumi?

“Fine.” Nezumi relented after coming to the conclusion that Shion wouldn’t tell. “Regardless of what it is, I’ve never seen anybody get one of the big prizes before. That was pretty impressive. How’d you do it?”

“What can I say? I didn’t choose the ball, the ball chose me. I just went with the flow.” Shion made the goofiest grin he could muster.

“You’re so weird.” Nezumi laughed, a real, healthy, light laugh that was neither sarcastic nor mean, just pleasant and pure. And it made Shion’s stomach do a summersault for no apparent reason.

Stupid hormones.

 

* * *

 

_Click! Vrrrr._

“Shion?” Nezumi’s voice was calm but it clearly had a pissed undertone.

Shion pretended he didn’t notice that last part. “Yeah?”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Taking your picture,” he replied in a ‘what does it look like I’m doing?’ way.

"I can see that, thanks. Why are you taking my picture?”

 _Because I want to remember every moment we spend together. Because I want to show you why I think you’re so beautiful. Because I want to have something to hold onto whenever I’m not with you._ “Because I want a picture of you.” He said lamely. Sure, the things he’d thought in his head were probably better, but there was nothing wrong with something simple and neutral.

The white-haired boy removed the Polaroid picture from the slot in the camera and shook it out with an enthusiastic flick of his wrist. This was his first picture of his soul mate after all; he wanted to make sure it came out perfect.

Nezumi cleared his throat a couple of times, “I don’t like to have my picture taken.”

“But look at how good it turned out.” Shion shoved the picture in Nezumi’s face, hoping that seeing the picture would make him change his mind.

The Nezumi in the picture was holding a smudged white ball to his chest, the one that went to the bottle game they currently stood in front of- they’d stopped to play when Nezumi noticed Shion gazing wistfully at a rather magnificent enormous teddy bear. He was looking intently at the stack of beat up bottles a few feet away that he needed to knock down. Shion thought that the concentration that was so clearly evident on his face was beautiful. It was strange how a single picture could hold so many details, capturing the memory in place for as long as the picture existed.

“Why do you want a picture of me anyway?”

“I want to remember every day that I’ve spent with you.” Shion smiled softly. “I…tend to forget things easily. I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to forget someone like you, but I also don’t want to take the chance. So I want to make sure that I remember the time that you and I have spent together.

“…”

The camera itself held meaning to Shion as well. He’d found it that morning while searching in the attic of his house for his mother’s seasonal tablecloths. It’d been stowed away the very bottom of the box with the tablecloths, go figure, perfectly intact and not dusty at all. Perfect condition.

When he’d asked his mother about it, her face had shifted into an expression he’d never seen her wear before- an expression that he would later define it as a look of remembrance. Nostalgia. She’d explained that the camera had belonged to his father before he passed away and that he used to take a picture of her every day. “We probably still have whole boxes of those pictures,” she’d said with a small smile, “He never threw away a single one.”

Doing this with Nezumi felt right. He had very little memory of his father- he had died when Shion was very young- so, though it may be silly, the small action made the boy felt a small step closer to his dad.

“Hey, are you gonna throw the ball or not? There are people waiting to play,” said the stall attendant, a girl who was less than impressed by Shion and Nezumi’s conversation.

Nezumi gave her a glare that was cold enough to freeze the sun. Shion shivered and Nezumi sighed. “Do what you want.” The slightly-pissed boy relented before finally turning his attention back to the stack of bottles. Shion thanked him and stowed the picture in his pockets, right next to the slips of paper from before.

Nezumi took a deep breath and gripped the ball tightly before stretching his arm back and launching the ball forward. Said ball hurtled forward and knocked into the bottles with a satisfying _CRACK!_ , scattering the empty containers all across the stall.

“Congrats or whatever. What prize would you like?” asked the girl in charge of the bottle game. Shion found himself wondering who’d peed in her cereal today to put her in such a bad mood.

Nezumi jerked his thumb up to point at the object that had brought them to the stall in the first place. “Gimme the big bear.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, how about we ride the Ferris Wheel?” asked Nezumi. He pointed farther out and a bit to the right where, lo and behold, there was a large wheel, spinning slowly.

“I’ve never been on one before.”

“I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore.” Nezumi shook his head, “It’s the staple of street fairs, the good ones anyway. Are you up for it?”

“Sure. It seems interesting” Shion smiled and once again followed Nezumi because he looked like he knew where he was going and also because he smelled nice. Not that he would tell him that.

They walked side-by-side, as close as could be without touching, trying to stick together in the crazy weekend crowd. Shion’s finger brushed Nezumi’s hand, sending a spark of nerves up his arm and down his spine. He found that he very much liked that feeling. So he did it again. And again. And again. Until suddenly Nezumi’s hand wasn’t next to his anymore. It was around his. Nezumi had grabbed Shion’s hand and held it there in between them, fingers intertwined.

“Stay close, okay? The crowd is pretty thick around here.”

"Okay.”

And so they walked to the Ferris Wheel hand in hand, silent, but feeling far more than words could ever describe.

Soon they were climbing into one of the cabins of the Ferris Wheel, sitting across from one another. The cabin was sky blue, with windows on every wall to let as much light in as possible.

Up and up and up they went, the ground and everything on it slowly shrinking. The sun, still high up in the sky streamed in through the windows of the cabin, lighting up Nezumi’s profile. His dark hair glinted off the sun, making it look like a lighter grey color.

Shion took the time to make sure that his new stuffed companion was sitting comfortably next to him. He fluffed its fur and fixed its rainbow bow, which had come half way undone during the walk here. He finished tying the bow and scooted back a bit to admire his work. “There. Now you’re looking good Mr. Fluffykins.”

“I’m sorry, but did you just call that thing ‘Mr. Fluffykins’?” asked Nezumi, who was clearly trying not to laugh.

“Yes, because that’s his name.”

“That is the strangest name I’ve ever heard. Where did you come up with something like that?”

“I have a Mrs. Fluffykins at home. She’s royalty.”

“Royalty, huh.” Nezumi did not sound impressed.

“Yes. Royalty. She has a crown.”

“Okay, and this is her husband…?”

“Yes. He’s _Mr._ Fluffykins. They’re madly in love.”

“You’re so weird, oh my god.” Nezumi laughed in the same way as before and Shion’s heart skipped in that annoying way it had been doing all day. He wished it would calm down; every time it started messing around his face would grow hot…like it began to do right then.

While Shion busied himself with calming his heart down, Nezumi fell silent. Shion noticed after a few moments that Nezumi looked kind of dazed. He was looking intently out of the window, like he was looking beyond the horizons into something that only he could see.

_What is he thinking about?_

“What’re you thinking about?” he uttered before he realized it.

“Everything. And anything,” Nezumi muttered, sounding slightly dazed.

“I see…”

Silence filled the cabin. Shion caught himself staring at Nezumi’s profile after a couple of minutes but he didn’t stop. Somehow Nezumi was just so _beautiful._ Long, soft-looking dark hair, pale skin that was completely blemish-free, long eyelashes, and nimble fingers all combined to make someone so beautiful he was almost dream-like. His limbs were gorgeously long too, oh and don’t even get him started on his smile. It could be mean and kind at the same time, a contradiction that somehow fit him very well. _I’m so lucky to call him my soul mate._ _Why don’t other people see what I see?_

“Hey…Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did,”

“Oh, right. Um, how did those rumors about you start up?”

Nezumi chuckled a humorless laugh. “What, you mean you don’t believe them?”

“They’re pretty outrageous. I’d rather believe what I hear from the source rather than from other people.”

“That’s very like you, Shion,” he said, turning to look at Shion, “None of them are true. I mean the events all happened, but I didn’t do them.”

“So how did you get blamed for them?”

“I…have really bad luck. Wrong place wrong time mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Yeah. Mostly. Look, this isn’t exactly the happiest topic. Why don’t we talk about something else? I know, why don’t you tell me something interesting about yourself? Something that not a lot of people know about you.”

"Let’s see. Well, I actually didn't know which eye color was my natural color."

Nezumi looked at him with wide eyes- clearly he had not been expecting that, "Really? How come?"

"My mom's eyes are brown and my mom tells me dad's eyes were a bright blue. When I was born, I had brown eyes and brown hair, just like my mom. Then when I was four, I came down with this super rare sickness that no one knows much about. I don't remember any of it, but mamma says that it got so bad that I almost died. It's weird though, right when it was getting to the critical stage, I just miraculously started to get better. The only catch was that it turned my hair white and my eyes black and red."

Shion touched his hair subconsciously, "Before then I had just assumed that I was paired with a soul mate that had brown as their natural color too." It was about then that the white-haired boy realized he'd been talking for awhile and promptly shut himself up, his shoulders slouching in a way that made his look rather turtle-ish. Nezumi gazed at Shion with amused eyes, much like the way an owner gazes at a puppy as it tries to figure out how to run without falling.

"I-I'm sorry. I talk a lot..."

The dark-eyed boy chuckled, "Yeah, you do,"

Shion slouched more, "I'm sorry..."

"You don’t need to apologize. I think it’s kind of cute.”

The boy looked up, honest eyes clearly displaying his confusion and embarrassment, “C-cute?” He was certainly not blushing. Nope. Absolutely not. Unless, of course, Nezumi thought so, then maybe he was a little cute…maybe.

“I have another question,” asked Shion in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

“Yeah?”

“What’s our relationship exactly? Like, are we dating or…?”

_[Riiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiing!]_

His pocket was vibrating enthusiastically, pulling Shion’s attention from a situation that could’ve very well become very awkward. “Oh, sorry.” The boy apologized and pulled his phone from his pocket. It was his mom.

“Hello?”

_[Oh good, I’m glad I reached you. Listen, I’m sorry but do you think you could come home soon? There’s a huge rush of customers since it’s lunch hour. I can’t handle this with just Nanami and me. Can you make it back?]_

“Yeah, yeah I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

_[Thank you so much. I love you.]_

“I love you too. See you soon. Bye.” Shion clicked the end button and slid the phone back in his pocket. “I’m sorry, Nezumi. My mom needs me back home so I have to end this here.”

“I get it. Thanks for hanging out with me today.”

“No no, thank you for bringing me here. I had a lot of fun.”

Nezumi smiled a half-smile, “I told you you would.”

The cabin landed and they were let off. There was a slight drop from the cabin to the ground so Nezumi exited first and held his hand out to Shion, helping him out. Shion was surprised by the amount of small details that Nezumi paid attention to. They walked to the exit together, Shion thinking about the amount of bread he’d probably need to make for the rest of the day and Nezumi thinking about Shion’s question from earlier.

Shion had been right; they hadn’t defined their relationship as of yet. Nezumi had just been trying to do his best to not scare Shion off, but that didn’t count as dating. Hell, that barely even counted as being friends. Nezumi liked Shion. He was smart and funny in his own way, and he’d been willing to approach Nezumi with absolutely no prejudice. But that didn’t mean he _like_ liked Shion.

_This is too damn complicated._

But it shouldn’t be. Nezumi had already resolved to stay by Shion’s side until he was either asked to leave or until their relationship started to crumble- whichever came first. He wasn’t going to run, he’d already done that before and he wasn’t planning on doing it again. Alright, so he had that much figured out; he should just get it all over with and ask Shion to be his boyfriend. Properly.

_Damn that sounds weird. Am I supposed to add in some sort of transition? Like “Hey, nice weather today. I want to be able to enjoy days like this with you forever. Will you go out with me?” Oh for the love of crap. That’s probably the least cool thing I’ve ever thought of. No. I’m not even going to fool with that. I’ll just ask him out right._

“Shion, will you go out with me?” Nezumi asked.

“Shion?” Nezumi glanced over in Shion’s direction only to notice that he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a little girl with purple and blue eyes and braided brown hair stared back at him with a scrunched up expression. “Yuck! Boys are gross!” she exclaimed, running back into the crowd to stand next to a woman, presumably her mom, who looked at him with a dirty expression.

“Oh god dammit.”

 

* * *

 

Did Shion feel awful for leaving without saying goodbye? Yes. But would he have done anything different if given the chance? No. He just felt so awkward all of this sudden, what with cutting their _outing_ short because of a call from his mom. Not to mention his question had still been unanswered. Shion had been afraid that Nezumi would friend zone him right before they left the fair. It was a stupid fear, Shion was fully aware, but there was bliss in avoiding the truth for a little longer.

But he couldn’t think about Nezumi anymore, not when his mom needed him. So he hurried back to his house, taking every possible short cut to get there sooner.

Later that evening, after closing up, Shion would remember the slips of paper he’d won at the fair.

He sat on his bed and fished them out from his pocket, curiosity and excitement swimming in his veins.

They were two tickets for a balloon ride right before sundown.

The tickets said the event would be in town for the next week and that he could choose which day he wanted to go. The location was a bit out of the way, but he could probably get there by train in 10-15 minutes.

_This would be a great place to take Nezumi. It’d just be him and me, gazing at the sky and talking._

That could be nice. Though he wouldn’t be able to run away this time. And oh man, he still hadn’t apologized for outright ditching Nezumi earlier. The boy stowed the tickets away in his nightstand drawer and pulled out his cell phone.

Nezumi (1:49pm): Where’d you go?

Nezumi (2:05pm): Did you get home okay?

Nezumi (2:07pm): Thanks for hanging out with me. I’ll see you later.

Shion felt awful! He’d ditched his phone the minute he’d stepped foot into the bakery earlier and it hadn’t even occurred to him to check it before now.

Shion (8:12pm): Sorry! I just saw those texts now! Thank you for inviting me! And I’m so sorry about suddenly leaving! I’ll make it up to you later ^u^

Was he normally one to use emojis? No. But it felt right and at this point he wasn’t thinking or acting in a “normal” way.

And he was totally fine with that.

When he went to bed later on, he dreamed of dark hair, fuzzy bears, and pizza with strange toppings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My absolute favorite part of this chapter is the little blurbs of banter that Shion and Nezumi exchange. It was so much fun to write especially since they're such different personalities. I hope you all enjoyed those parts as much as I did :)


	7. Trust Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪Do you ever think when you're all alone  
> All that we can be, where this thing can go?  
> Am I crazy or falling in love?  
> Is it real or just another crush?  
> Do you catch a breath when I look at you?  
> Are you holding back like the way you do?  
> 'Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away  
> But I know this crush ain't goin' away.♪
> 
> -Crush by David Archuleta
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The complete chapter 7! I seriously didn't expect it to take so long, but I'm happy with how it turned out. The reason why this wasn't released in December is because chapter 7 is actually a lot longer, so long that I had to chop it into two parts. While part 2 is almost complete, it is not yet 100% so I have to once again ask for your patience. In all honesty, you're all probably gonna get mad at me again, and for that, I apologize in advance XD
> 
> On a different note, I've (finally) finished plotting out the rest of the story. At this point, I have about 3 major events that I need to implement before I'll be ready to call Eyes Only For you "finished". I can't wait to show you all what I've got planned! :)
> 
> As always, thank you all so much for following this story. I can't even begin to explain how happy it makes me to get emails about new comments and kudos. Speaking of, while I was gone, this fic somehow got 200+ kudos and almost 3000 hits?! That's amazing! Thanks again!

_Where am I? What happened? Why am I so cold? Wait...where is Nezumi?!_

 

He awoke in a room that smelled of hand sanitizer and bleach. The first thing he noticed was the ceiling; all white and one that he did not recognize. He moved his left hand and was surprised when a scratchy sensation registered on the tips of his fingers. He was on a bed, he discovered seconds later, but it wasn’t his, for that he was sure. He tried to move his other hand but found it somehow…stuck? His fingers could move but his arm felt heavy and numb.

           

“What’s going on?” he mumbled, his voice soft and sleepy, like he’d just woken from a 1000 year nap. His mouth tasted funny.

“Shion?”

 

The boy’s head turned at the sound of his name only to find what he’d least expected. She looked short and fragile in the chair beside his bed. Her hair was still impeccably neat as usual, but the rest of her looked more tired, less than put together. She was still wearing one of her ugly sweaters but this one was about two sizes too big, making her look even smaller as it practically engulfed her body. Shion noticed that her nails were mere nubs, chewed off out of stress perhaps, but that didn’t make sense because she was never stressed…

 

“Safu?” Shion croaked, more surprised than anything else.  _I thought she was done being around me._

“ Oh thank god, he’s awake! Ms. Karen! Shion is awake!” exclaimed Safu, her face brightening up instantly. She shot up from her chair and moved to the door, “Wait here, I’ll be back.”

“Wait, Safu, I-“

And then she was gone.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” he murmured to himself. Shion sighed, he would have to make up with his best friend at a later time it seemed.

 

In the mean time, Shion decided to try to piece together why he was lying on a bed in a  _hospital_ room. At least, that’s what his detective skills were telling him from the all while room, occasional beeping noise, and Safu waiting in a chair besides his bed. His arm, he now noticed, was in a cast and had multiple tubes attached to it, each containing a mysterious clear liquid.

 

 _Something_ had clearly happened. It was the what that was persistently evading him. What had he been doing before he woke up? He felt like it was the most important thing in the world, so then why couldn’t he remember?

 

He’d…he’d been…

A flash of dark hair, two charcoal eyes, pale skin the color of moonlight. He’d smiled.

 

“Oh my god, Nezumi!”

 

* * *

 

It was Tuesday and still Safu and Shion had yet to face each other, let alone make even an attempt at making up. And to be honest, Shion was severely missing his best friend. Sure, he hadn't been starved of all social interaction now that he had Nezumi, but there were things that Shion needed that Nezumi simply couldn't provide for. 

 

Like passing around inside jokes. Like being able to mutually complain about the amount of homework they had to do. Like boyfriend advice.

 

And boy did Shion need boyfriend advice. Lately Nezumi had been completely dominating his mind and with him came a flood of unanswered questions. What is their relationship? How did he actually feel about Nezumi? When was he going to work up the nerve to actually ask Nezumi these questions? The answers remained elusive to say the least. This was, without a doubt, best friend territory. And, like it or not, Shion would have to make up with Safu first even though he wasn't at all sorry for what he'd done.

 

But Safu was a girl, one who knew how to hold a grudge, so Shion, like many times in the past, swallowed his rationality and his pride, and sought off to find his temporarily ex-best friend.

 

He found her right where he’d expected- at her locker in between classes- however she was doing the one thing Shion had never seen her partake in before: talking on her cell phone. It was well known that despite being very intelligent and in on current news, Safu despised cell phones. To this day, Shion did not understand her unusual abhorrence towards the things, but she’s never kept it on and most certainly never tried to use it. Yet there she stood, leaning against her lockers, books in one arm, phone cradled in between her right hand and cheek. 

 

And she was smiling.

 

Shion’s jaw  _dropped._

 

Let it be known that Shion was not surprised because Safu was smiling, but instead due to the fact that someone had managed to be deemed worthy enough to contact over the phone  _and_ laugh with in public. 

 

Shion’s inner best friend instincts tugged at his mind and demanded to go over and get as many small details as he could possibly glean, but his voice of reason won instead. Safu was clearly too busy to talk about such an unpleasant event as the state of their friendship and Shion wasn’t about to interrupt her happy moment. Besides, there was no reason for Shion to need to apologize to Safu  _right here and now_ , he could always do it another time when she was less giddy and more like the Safu he’d grown to know.

 

So, after stealing one more glance back at his best friend, Shion turned on his heel and began his usual search for Nezumi. Like Safu, Nezumi had his fair share of predictable acts such as the place he ate lunch, where he liked to spend his free time, what he ate for breakfast, his nervous habit of twirling his hair with his long, thin, beautiful fingers of his that just seemed to glide when he moved them-

 

And he was  _not_  going to think about that now.

 

Nezumi could usually be found eating lunch on the school stage in the auditorium. Now, it was a well-known fact that food is absolutely not allowed to cross the threshold between the arts hallway and the auditorium. However, Nezumi had somehow gained the theater club president’s favor, and had thus been granted with full access to the theater whenever it wasn’t being used. Shion didn’t really get it but he still thought it was cool that Nezumi had managed to fit in with a small group of people in such a short amount of time, especially considering his usual “I don’t care about anyone” demeanor.

 

Speaking of, where had said demeanor gone? Shion had gotten a taste of it in the beginning when Nezumi had outright tried to avoid making contact with Shion, but ever since, Nezumi had been nothing but kind and, dare he say it, caring.

 

…Although he could be wrong. Nezumi had told Shion that he’d try to make this work, and Shion was sure he meant it. Still, something about Nezumi made Shion feel like he was forcing him into something he’d never asked for nor even wanted. How messed up was that?

 

Shion stopped in front of the double doors leading to the auditorium. Was he making a mistake? Should he just let Nezumi go and say it was for the best? If Nezumi truly wasn’t happy, then it was only right to relinquish Shion’s hold over him…so why did the mere thought of doing such a thing make Shion’s chest ache?

 

Shion shook his head, fluffy white hair bouncing back and forth. This was a stupid thing to be thinking about. The only thing Shion’s chest should be worried about is trying to maintain normal breathing patterns while eating lunch with Nezumi. Soul mate or not, Shion was still terrified of somehow scaring Nezumi. God, he was so cool, how did Shion ever wind up being able to spend time with him? His black on black leather wardrobe should’ve spoken volumes about how out of bounds Nezumi was, but now…

 

Now he was standing in front of the doors to his auditorium, having a lengthy inner monologue all while staring at absolutely nothing. Fantastic.

 

Not wanting to waste any more time, Shion took a deep breath to steel himself and finally entered the auditorium. The lights were all on which took away the rather romantic atmosphere that it’d held the night Shion first saw Nezumi on stage. Now it was more similar to the cafeteria except far more quiet. Shion’s soul mate was sitting on the edge of that same stage, reading a book while biting into a sandwich; he hadn’t noticed Shion.

 

A small smile found its way to the shorter boy’s face as he made his way towards the stage in no rush at all. It wasn’t until the he started walking up the stairs that Nezumi noticed his presence, but he didn’t avert his attention from his book. Shion plopped down next to Nezumi and removed a Nutella and banana sandwich from his lunch bag. His teeth sunk into the soft bread and a chocolatey sensation invaded his taste buds, and no, that small moan most definitely did  _not_ come from his lips. 

 

…It came from the theater ghost Nezumi had told him about a couple of days ago. Yeah. Because ghosts were totally real…

 

Anyway.

 

Shion focused his energy on quietly munching his sandwich and ignoring the slight blush that crept onto his pale cheeks as a result of the sound that, once again, most certainly didn’t come from him. He decided to stare at the apple in his lunch bag simply because it was there and staring anywhere else would just make him feel more weird. And so it was that he sat like that, chewing and staring at basically nothing and trying to act normal even though his heartbeat was beating a million times faster than normal. His face was flushing even more for some reason too, and was it just him or was it getting hotter?

 

“If you stare any harder you’ll burn a hole straight through that apple.” Nezumi said, an amused smirk on his face.

 

Shion’s eyes snapped up to meet Nezumi’s in a moment of confused embarrassment. “What?”

 

Nezumi’s eyes widened, surprised. With his stark white hair, Shion looked as red as the apple he’d been staring at. His eyes darted to and fro while his face made the single most frazzled expression Nezumi had ever seen. He looked like a child who’d been caught taking a cookie from the cookie jar even though he’d done absolutely nothing wrong. Shion’s eyes were  _big,_ wide with a certain mix of dazed emotion that seemed to sparkle with the sheer amount of energy that ran through them, beautiful and innocent and like nothing Nezumi had ever seen before. They reminded him of rubies his mom used to wear when he was a kid. Further examination led Nezumi’s thoughts to Shion’s hair. Snow white that was almost too bright to look at, windswept and crazy in a paradoxically tame and normal kind of way. 

 

He moved before he realized what he was doing, reaching out and smoothening Shion’s hair, enjoying the fact that it was as soft as he’d imagined. He let it linger for a few seconds more than necessary, not wanting to let Shion’s warmth leave his hand.

 

 _Kiss him,_ whispered a small voice in his head.

 

_Whoa, hold on. Where the hell did that come from?_

 

Nezumi could feel his own face start to heat up and acted quickly. He brought his hand back towards himself and pretended to be holding something in between his fingers. Ducking his head down to allow his (thankfully) long bangs to cover his face, he mumbled the first excuse that came to mind. “A fuzz. You had a fuzz in your hair.”

 

“O-oh. T-thanks.” Shion stuttered before ducking his head in the same manner. He resumed eating his lunch quietly.

 

Nezumi felt like the single lamest person on the planet. A fuzz? A fucking fuzz?! That’s the best he could come up with? He was an actor and the best excuse for almost kissing Shion was that there was a fuzz in his hair? That wasn’t the kind of person he was! He was Nezumi! The mysterious figure that could evade anything and everything that was thrown at him. So what the hell was that? And even more so, what the hell was with that voice that he heard? Kiss Shion? Where the hell did that come from?!

 

As far as Nezumi was concerned, Shion was some close acquaintance-like person, one whom Nezumi was remaining around for their sake. He would leave when Shion asked him to and he would have absolutely no problem with it; that was the plan. But now his heart was racing at an achingly fast tempo and he was thinking about kissing him. Nothing was making sense anymore, not since Shion had tripped his way right into Nezumi’s life. But was that even all that bad?

 

Meanwhile, Shion’s brain had turned into mush and had ceased all normal functions. It felt like he was doing a million different tasks at once, but the tasks were simple things. Breathe, keep your vision straight, sit up, don’t pass out, don’t choke on your food, don’t stare for too long, and don’t pass out from the heat. Simple enough, right? Not for Shion.

 

 _He touched me, actually_ touched  _me. Oh god, I can still feel his fingers. What is this? My chest hurts, it feel like someone’s sitting on me…but in a good way. Does that even make any sense? That doesn’t make any sense. Great, now he’s not looking at me like I’m crazy…like I probably look. I just wish I would just melt away; this is so embarrassing…_

 

The two stayed like that what felt like 10 minutes but was actually more like three; sitting next to each other and yet not touching out of fear for something, though  _what_ they were both unsure. Love is strange that way; it’s a scary kind of new. They ate their lunches in such a perfect silence that the only sound that bounced off of the acoustic walls of the auditorium were the sounds of their staccato breaths and the soft steps of the occasional passerby in the hallway outside.

 

Shion’s heartbeat had slowed to a manageable level by this point and his cheeks had decided to settle on a pale pink shade, a ghost of the former crimson. Now that his brain had decided to start working like it was supposed to, Shion found himself with yet another challenge- how to break the silence.

 

 _How was your day?_ Too general after what just happened.  _Why did your hand linger?_ Absolutely not.  _What’s your favorite color?_ That was just small talk, and he already knew the answer.

 

At that moment, an idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. Except this lighting wasn’t electrocuting him in a serious and possibly fatal way, no, this was a savior bolt of lightning. Like a guardian angel but in lightning form and oh my god he needed to stop being suck a dork.

 

 _The tickets I won at the fair._ Two tickets to a hot air balloon ride, valid this week. He’d been meaning to ask Nezumi if he’d like to go with him, but he’d been too worried about whether or not Nezumi would like it that he’d simply put it off. That is, until now. Not only would it get something Shion had been thinking about done, but it would also break the heavy silence. Two birds, one stone.

 

“Hey, Nezumi?”

“Mm?”

“Do you remember the prize I won at the fair?”

Nezumi turned his head, his face neutral and not giving away anything. “Yeah, what about it?”

“They were tickets for two for a hot air balloon ride this week. I wanted to know if you might, maybe, if you’re not too busy, and if you find yourself especially bored on Saturday, and if you don’t mind with going with someone like me and if you’re not afraid of heights-“

“Shion! Just spit it out already!”

“Would you like to go with me, please?” He blurted.

Please? Please?! How desperate could he get? That’s along the same lines as ‘I’m incapable of talking to girls, but I still want to have a date so would you please come with me to my high school prom?’ Utterly disgraceful.

The corner of Nezumi’s face twitched up in a small, lopsided smile; he’d clearly been unfazed by Shion’s utter lack of social skills. “Sure. It sounds like it could be fun. When do you want to go?”

“Well, they’ll be in town for a month. We should probably go on a Saturday since it’s not a school night. Oh, but not this Saturday because I have to help my mom out with the bakery. Now that I think about it, Saturdays will probably make the trains more hectic; maybe we should go during the week after all. But it starts right before sundown and I don’t want to be tired for school the next day…”

Nezumi cut in, “Shion.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re mumbling to yourself again.”

 

_He’s right! Gah, how stupid can I get? Now he’ll think that I’m weird. Unless he already thinks I’m weird, then that just means that I’m weird-er than before…_

 

“How about next Saturday?” Nezumi asked, gliding smoothly through the conversation.

“Hold on,” Shion whipped out his smartphone and opened the calendar app. After tapping at it for a bit, he responded, “That would actually work. Geeze, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Great, it’s settled then.”

“I can’t wait!” exclaimed Shion, his face breaking into a grin.

 

Nezumi’s stomach became a gymnast again, doing all kinds of flips and turns that made his blood pump a little bit faster… Now that he thought about it, it had been doing that a lot more frequently these past few weeks. 

 

How odd.

 

* * *

 

 

Shion didn’t remember much about the time leading up his and Nezumi’s date. It seemed like more and more often, Shion’s thoughts were completely dominated by thoughts of Nezumi. It would’ve been a problem, what with him being completely unable to pick up a pen without being reminded of his soul mate in some way, shape, or form, however since he was already far ahead in all of his classes, he could afford to waste away his classes daydreaming about a certain raven-haired boy.

 

Each day, it was getting harder and harder to pretend that he  _didn’t_ know what was happening to him. The increased heartbeat, the blushing, the nervous sweating, the constant thoughts- these were all telltale signs of love.  He wondered just what he was supposed to do with feelings like these when Nezumi wasn’t feeling the same way. 

 

 _Maybe I can somehow change his mind,_ Shion thought to himself and he got ready for his second date,  _I mean I_ am  _seeing him today after all. Maybe it’ll go so well that he’ll instantly fall for me…or something._

 

The two had agreed to meet at the same train station they’d met at for their first date. Shion was a little early, a quirk that was becoming more of a habit these days. Nezumi, on the other hand, was perfectly on time.

 

And was it just Shion, or did Nezumi look even more amazing than normal? He was wearing his usual leather jacket and dark shirt, only this time; he’d paired it all with a pair of skinny jeans. Shion didn’t consider himself as someone who could pull off the sheer confinement of skinny jeans and had thus never really understood the appeal, but now, looking at Nezumi, he was beginning to get the idea.

 

The two exchanged greetings and killed time with idle chitchat while waiting for the train. Even though they’d gone through the trouble of picking a less popular track, the train was still packed since there had been a large event scheduled at around the same time. With no seats available, the two had managed to get squished into the corner of the car with Shion’s back to the wall and Nezumi leaning over, placing a hand next to Shion’s head for stability.

 

“Sorry,” was all Nezumi said, his voice gruff. But really, that’s all he needed to say; Shion understood that.

 

“It’s fine.” Shion dismissed with a small smile. He was fully aware of his face flushing slightly from how close Nezumi was, but he decided to ignore it and hope that it would go unnoticed.

 

The train ride took longer than expected. A 20-minute delay, a power outage, and a broken line had all occurred during their journey. Who had ever heard of such a feat? It seemed as if the universe was throwing everything possible in the boys’ was to prevent them from going on their date.

 

They probably should’ve taken that as a hint, turned around, and changed their plans into a Netflix date. After all, it wasn’t like they absolutely had to go on a hot air balloon ride for a date; there were plenty of other things they could’ve done together instead. But there was something about those two at that time that kept them deaf from the cries of logic. Shion liked to think of that “something” as love, but he very well could’ve been wrong…

 

They arrived later than expected, but still on time, to the site where the hot air balloons would be leaving the ground. It was a large, open field sprinkled with brightly colored balloons. There were a huge amount of balloons; 50 at least if Shion was counting correctly. Each one had its own color and pattern that made it completely unique from the others.

 

The check-in was pretty interesting. Held in a tent, the organizers had set up an introductory video that walked the boys through the set-up of the balloons. The controls had been simplified and completely automatized to the point where even elementary schoolers had successfully piloted; that certainly made Shion feel better. After the video, they’d been given the chance to try it themselves with a balloon “engine” that was already in the tent. Both boys proved to know what they were doing, and, after signing the safety waiver, were allowed to pick out their balloon.

 

The field with the balloons was vast and flat. Shion hadn’t known of the existence of this place, but Nezumi informed him that it was commonly used for various sporting events. Shion would have to look into that later. 

 

They walked around the entire field, observing each of the colorful balloons. Pastels and patterns floated past Shion’s eyes, but one stuck out: the red and c=black checkered one. It was perfect, almost like it’d been made just for them. But that, of course was illogical. Shion realized that it was merely a coincidence that such a balloon had been here, but he still liked the notion. Nezumi had no complaints, “They all do the same thing,” he’d reasoned.

 

Nezumi, knowing fairly well by now just how clumsy Shion was capable of being, helped the smaller male into the balloon before climbing in himself. The organizers had told the boys that they would be waiting an extra ten minutes before allowing the balloons to take off in order to allow for any last minute stragglers to arrive. In the mean time, Nezumi and Shion decided to get as comfortable as one can in a hot air balloon basket.

 

Takeoff wouldn’t happen for a couple more minutes, so in the mean time, the boys sat down in the basket, one on each side, and looked at the other. Well, Nezumi wasn’t looking at Shion, he was too busy checking out the controls and making sure he understood how to use them. Shion was looking and Nezumi though- in fact, the intensity of his gaze could probably be deemed a stare, but that was beside the point. 

 

The dimming sunlight touching Nezumi’s dark hair, which was tied up as usual, was causing it to look incredibly soft and light. Shion couldn’t help but imagine himself running his fingers through Nezumi’s hair, feeling each strand softly caress his thin digits. He imagined that it’d be as soft as if Nezumi’s lips were to graze his skin, kissing Shion’s hand ever so lightly and slowly traveling up his arm, to his neck and finally, resting on Shion’s own lips-

 

“-ey! Hey! Earth to Shion! What are you looking at?”

 

Shion blinked, allowing his eyes to refocus onto the pair of fingers that were snapping right in front of his face. 

 

 _I was daydreaming again, wasn’t I?_ Of course he was. It’d become fairly habitual at this point. He’d have to start working on that.

 

Nezumi gazed at him with an expression that was a mix of confusion and something else. He had clearly noticed Shion’s blatant staring.

 

Shion rushed to speak but it came out as a strangles stutter, “O-oh, I was just, um…an eyelash, you have a-an eyelash on your cheek.” He reached out and brushed a fake eyelash off of Nezumi’s cheek with his thumb. Shion laughed nervously, desperate to draw attention from his obvious lie. He’d always been pretty awful at lying, but he had been proving especially bad whenever he tried it with Nezumi.

 

Nezumi’s eyes widened a fraction- he hadn’t been expecting that. This was the point where Nezumi would quirk his lips up into a smirk and chuckle at Shion’s  weird behavior, at least, that’s what Shion expected. Imagine his surprise when Nezumi instead averted his eyes and looked to his right, his brows crumpled to make an expression that Shion had never seen before. It looked like confusion mixed with something else- not exactly anxiety, so anxiety’s weird, evasive uncle.

 

That didn’t help Shion feel any less confused. Did he say anything wrong? No, he couldn’t have. Actually, now that Shion thought about it, Nezumi looked like he had something on his mind, maybe something he’d just remembered? That seemed a lot more probable than whatever Shion had been thinking before. He hoped that whatever Nezumi was thinking about wasn’t anything bad. He’d hate for Nezumi to be hung up on something. Maybe he could get Nezumi to talk about it, and then he’d look less troubled. At least he hoped so.

 

Fully intent on getting Nezumi to speak his mind, Shion opened his mouth, but before he could even get his first word out, he was interrupted by the sound of a megaphone siren.

 

 _[Attention ballooners! We’re ready to start the takeoff!]_ Both boys' heads snapped up as the announcement sounded. They clambered to their feel while a couple of cheers from other "ballooners" sounded from across the field. Shion was pretty sure he heard Nezumi mutter something about that "not being a real word", but he chose to ignore it. They couldn't see the girl who was talking, but they could clearly hear her.

 

_[If you look on the side of your basket, you should have a piece of paper with a letter on it. When we call your number, you may start lifting off. If you have any trouble, simply yell “screwdriver” and one of our staff will be with you. The route has been preset into your engines, so all you should need to do is press the green GO button. Have a great trip! All “A” balloons may now take off!]_

 

Shion stuck his head out to look at the side of the basket and was greeted by a large  **A.** The balloon had been a good choice for more than just its color it seemed. Excitement washed over Shion, pushing all previous thoughts to the edges of his mind- he could deal with those later.

 

Nezumi handled the engine with Shion undid the tethering ropes. Soon, the basket was lifting from the ground. Up and up and up they went, going to heights that'd, until now, seemed impossible to Nezumi but completely achievable to Shion. The people on the ground grew smaller and smaller the higher they went, while the increased vantage point allowed their eyes to take in the vast expanse of land they once stood on.

 

* * *

 

 

Nezumi remembered thinking how smart the timing of the event was. Taking to the sky right before sundown, while a bit scary at first, had left Shion breathless. The sky was a brilliant watercolor painting, all pinks and yellows and oranges, and everything was underneath a deep blue backdrop.

 

"Absolutely beautiful," said Nezumi, slightly breathless. He wasn't looking at the sunset, but instead at Shion, who was leaning over the basket and gazing at the sky. All the while, Shion remained oblivious to it all. Everything was right in the world.

 

"Yeah! It really is," agreed Shion, completely unaware.

 

Nezumi smiled to himself before moving to stand next to Shion.

 

"Isn't it incredible?" Shion remarked, "The sun is positioned in such a way that the blue light goes past what our eyes can see until we’re left with these incredible pinks and oranges.” He sighed happily. “Sometimes I just get so in awe of how incredible the Earth is. Is that crazy?”

 

“Not at all. There are a lot of beautiful things here, like what I’m looking at right now.”

 

Shion still wasn’t getting it, his face still pointed directly at the horizon, “Right? And this is something pretty simple, too. Don’t even get me started on sodium metals; I could talk about those forever. Iron is the prettiest, in my opinion. I love how it sparks.”

 

“Mmm.” Shion had pretty much lost Nezumi at this point, but he loved watching Shion talk about something he was passionate about.

 

They watched the sky shift colors for a while longer. To Nezumi, it looked like a lava lamp, but he was sure that Shion had a name for every color fluctuation.

 

“I have a something for you,” Shion said softly. Nezumi turned his face slightly so that Shion was in his vision, eyebrow lifting a degree. It was then that Nezumi noticed Shion’s hand clenched in his jacket.

 

“What kind of something?” he asked, skeptical. It could be anything, really. This was Shion after all.

 

“Just don’t move, okay?” Shion turned so that his body was facing Nezumi’s head-on, and when his eyes slid up to meet Nezumi’s, well, it took just about all of Nezumi’s self control to maintain his cool demeanor. Shion just looked so…so…vulnerable? Adorable? These were words that Nezumi had never used to talk about anyone before. They came bundled with the new pack on sensations that Nezumi had begun to experience since meeting Shion. These included, but were not limited to chill down the spine, butterflies in the stomach, and sudden waves of heat. What the hell, right?

 

Shion was biting his lip and looking more than a little nervous, but determined all the same. God, he was so cute. Where was he? Oh right.

 

“…”

 

With quick movements, Shion raised himself onto his toes and fiddled with Nezumi’s right earlobe. He could feel Shion’s soft, delicate fingers and a cold, solid sensation that was oddly familiar. He then moved on to the other ear.

 

When Shion was done, he removed his hands and admired his handiwork. “I knew that would look good on you,” he grinned, “Silver and black seem to compliment your personality, at least that’s what I’ve thought since I met you.”

 

Shion had placed two earrings in Nezumi’s ear, studs judging by the weight. He touched them with his fingers and found them to be small, flat circles, a surprised expression on his face. “I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything.”

 

“No, no! I didn’t do this because I want anything in return. I guess I just wanted to thank you.”

 

“What for?”

 

“Well, for putting up with me, I guess? This whole situation was kinda my idea. I dragged you into being my soul mate. I know you’ve only stuck around with me because you feel responsible for making me happy, but I just wanted to say thank you.” He smiled softly, innocently. “And…and I’m really glad that you’re the one for me, even if you don’t feel the same way.” He looked away and scratched the back of his neck, a habit he only did when he got nervous while talking in front of people.

 

What the hell was Shion talking about? He thought that he was being a nuisance? That wasn’t true at all! In all actuality, Shion had been the best thing to happen to Nezumi since…ever. He knew he had to change Shion’s mind, somehow stop him from thinking those falsities.

 

So Nezumi did the first thing his impulses told him to: he slid his hands past Shion’s cheeks, fingers softly gripping the back of his neck, thumbs resting on his jaw line. In one fluid motion, he bent down and touched his lips to Shion's. Despite what he may say, Nezumi had been thinking about kissing Shion since the day they'd met. There was just something about Shion that had captured Nezumi's attention and refused to release its hold, even though Nezumi couldn’t for the life of him place what exactly that somethingwas. 

 

Shion had been right-  _at first_  Nezumi had only agreed to be around Shion out of a feeling of responsibility, but now...now was completely different. No longer did he feel obligated to spend time with Shion simply because the boy had been unlucky enough to get stuck with him as his soul mate, now it was a pleasant experience.

 

During the past short weeks, he'd grown to love learning new things about his dorky soul mate and enjoy teasing him because he made the cutest goddamn faces whenever he did. Like the one he was wearing right after Nezumi pulled back.

 

Shion's face was practically crimson by the time that Nezumi's lips left the other boy's, and Nezumi could tell from the boy’s unfocused eyes and gaping mouth that he had caught him off guard. 

 

Nezumi looked down at Shion, his hands still cupping Shion’s cheeks, and found himself completely at a loss for words. Everything was just so perfect, the setting, the lighting, the mood,  _him,_ there was nothing that could possibly go wrong.

 

And so it was that at that moment, Nezumi opened his mouth and spoke his mind. “Shion,” he breathed, his voice loud enough for Shion alone to hear over the sound of the wind rushing past them, “I’ve been thinking about you, a lot actually and- ah, fuck it, I’ll just say it. Shion, I lo-“

 

_CLANK! PSSSSSSSSSSH!_

 

Shion jumped at the sudden sound, his nerves suddenly on edge. “What was that?” he asked, turning his gaze upward to look at the “engine”. A hole had blown its way through the metal and had, coincidentally, shifted the flame onto the fabric of the balloon. With a sudden jerk, the balloon tilted sharply before plummeting towards the ground.

 

Instinctively, Nezumi threw his arms around Shion and braced himself against the side of the basket. Nezumi’s hand held Shion’s head to his chest

 

“What’s going on?!” Shion exclaimed, fear clinging to his voice

 

“I don’t know! Just hold on!” Nezumi replied, trying his best to keep calm.

 

A lot of people say that when they’re in a dangerous situation, they see their lives play before their eyes, but that’s not what happened with Nezumi. In his opinion, his life wasn’t worth reliving, at least, not when someone precious to him was wrapped tightly in his arms. So instead, visions of Shion monopolized his vision. Shion laughing and blushing. Shion solving a difficult equation, pencil in mouth, eyes furrowed in concentration. Shion looking exhausted after staying up late to study. Shion trying to wrap his head around an innuendo but ultimately winding up confused and lost.

 

_I can’t lose him, not yet. Please._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now you know why Shion is in the hospital XD
> 
> Sorry again for the cliffhanger, but I promise I have something in the works for chapter 8 that'll make all of this drama worth it. I'll give you a hint! It has to do with poorly timed music.
> 
> Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go hide before tables start being flipped again *runs*


	8. Love Is Not Getting Mad When Your Boyfriend Makes Bad Song References

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪So, honey, now  
> Take me into your loving arms  
> Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars  
> Place your head on my beating heart.  
> I'm thinking out loud.  
> Maybe we found love right where we are.♪
> 
> -Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran
> 
> Playlist with all the chapter summary songs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Jprovi2Dc&index=1&list=PLFGkiFReg8GzNaY2cOJSX6_VuHFyfnpnO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Chapter 8! I'm so excited for this chapter just because of how much fun it was to write-- I think you'll see why after reading it ;)
> 
> I think it's good to have a fun chapter like this especially after the cliff hangers I've been putting you all through XD
> 
> I wanted to post this on the 24th since that's my birthday, but I'm not patient enough for that, so here you go! Aren't I so nice?
> 
> This chapter's title was supposed to be the title for chapter 7, but when I cut it in half, the title didn't fit anymore and got shifted over here. Yay for flexibility! And I've kept with my stupidly long chapter title track! Bonus!
> 
> One of my worst writing habits is writing without planning or outlining at all, which is why I've never known just how many chapters this will be. After some thinking, I think I've got about 4 more important plot points that I need to get through before I'll be comfortable with calling this fic completed. I'd like to thank you all again for sticking around and putting up with my weird update schedule!
> 
>  
> 
> I think that's about it! Once again, thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments on the fic. It's small things like that that reminds me why I write in the first place. I hope you enjoy chapter 8!

The moment that Shion fell from the sky together with Nezumi felt like it lasted an eternity. He thought about a lot of things during his descent, mostly things about his mom, but also about Safu and, more pressingly, Nezumi.

 

Fear began to take hold of his body, stiffening each of his limbs as he realized the seriousness of the situation before him. He was falling from the _fucking_ sky! How else should he feel? It wasn’t like a roller coaster with a seatbelt, cart, and guaranteed safe return to the ground. This could easily end his life or that of Nezumi’s.

 

He started counting backwards from 100, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to get all the way to zero, but it helped his nerves. It helped his screaming sound farther away.

 

_99, 98, 97…_

 

They’d kissed-- the fact alone was so surprising that Shion could barely wrap his head around it. Yes, this was something nice enough to become thoroughly distracted upon. Everything that he’d worried about in the past- the compatibility between the two of them, whether or not Nezumi actually liked Shion- had been whisked out of his mind, replaced with charcoal hair and dark eyes. And now there he was, falling from the sky immediately after.

 

_80, 79, 78…_

 

What kind of messed up fate had caused him to be thrust into a possibly fatal situation right after having his first kiss? That just sucked! His poor luck had seriously outdone itself this time. But in all seriousness, now that Shion thought about it, if it was poor luck that bought him a situation where he could cling to Nezumi’s body as tight and as close as he wanted, then maybe his luck wasn’t so bad after all.

 

_65, 64, 63…_

 

 _Seriously, Shion? You’re about to die and_ that’s _what you’re thinking about? Heh, Safu would be proud if she could see me right now,_ he thought to himself. His eyes widened for a second as realization washed over his body. _That’s right, I still haven’t made up with Safu. That fight seems so stupid and small right now. I…I wish we could’ve made up, gone back to how we’ve been since we were kids. And while I’m at it, I wish I could’ve seen my mom one last time. And I also wish I could’ve heard Nezumi’s full confession, although just that little piece was very sweet._

 

He wouldn’t mind another kiss from said boy either.

 

_51, 50, 49…_

 

_I can't die right now. Not when I have so much that I've left undone._

 

_22, 21, 20…_

 

They hit the ground shortly after. It was simple and quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid. The basket of the balloon hit first, splitting open upon contact and allowing the two to tumble onto the ground. The only thing Shion could remember was being wrenched out of Nezumi’s hold and rolling across the ground. When his body came to a stop, he opened his eyes long enough to get a blurry picture of Nezumi laying motionless on the ground a little ways from him before he, too, returned to the familiar, still blackness of unconsciousness.

 

* * *

 

_Where is he?!_

 

Shion was starting to panic. Or, at least, that’s what he thought seeing as how he was displaying all of the common signs of anxiety. Rapid heartbeat, sudden chills, tunnel vision, dizziness, desperation.

 

 _I_ have _to find Nezumi, I need to know that he’s okay._ If he wasn’t…Shion would never forgive himself.

 

He needed to go _now._ The boy threw the sheets off of his body, only to realize that he was still tethered to the multiple beeping medical machines. In one go, he ripped the needles and tubes from his body and allowed them to fall to the ground, completely indifferent to the loud warning sounds that came from the machines. Apparently they did not like being taken out forcibly, but at the moment, Shion couldn’t summon the energy to care.

 

Shion slid his legs to the corner of his bed and tried to push off onto his feet. It felt weird not being laid down-- his limbs felt heavy and awkward, like someone had poured concrete into them. Not to mention his cast was already starting to annoy him. Today really wasn’t a good day for him.

 

He began to hobble to the door with a fire of determination in his stomach. Of course, Shion knew that he must look like a fool walking so strangely, but if it would get him to Nezumi, he didn’t care if he had to go there by limo or by foot. He **would** find him. That much was practically already a promise.

 

Shion’s hand was on the door, ready to push it open so that he could search every inch of the entire hospital, but a small noise stopped him. On the other side of the room, there was a pastel blue curtain that cut the space in two. He hadn’t paid it much attention before, but the sound of rustling sheets and sleepy moans held him back.

 

He knew that voice.

 

Shion’s heart leapt in his chest as hope washed over him. Holding his injured arm to his chest, Shion made his way across the room and pushed the curtain to the side.

 

The sight alone was enough to make Shion fall to his knees. There Nezumi was, sitting in a hospital bed, perfectly fine save for the bandages and large cast on his elevated leg. His expression was rather sour, which was understandable what with the giant cast he was stuck in, but he was safe and alive. That was all Shion really care about.

 

"You're okay," he whispered, tears instantly rushing to the corners of his eyes. He almost couldn't believe it, "What-? How-? Why-?" Shion began many questions but couldn't seem to find a compete thought to ask Nezumi about. "How bad is it?" He finally decided on, voice small and more than a little nervous.

 

Nezumi rubbed his eyes in an attempt to rub the sleep from his eyes. He looked up at Shion, his mouth formed into a grim line, his face looking tired and worn, "It's...it's pretty bad," he revealed in a low, serious voice, "They're saying I only have a couple more days to live."

 

_What?_

 

How could this be? Shion just found Nezumi again only for him to be taken away. He hadn't had time to thank him for saving him or to talk for hours and hours or to think about any kind of a future and now he was just supposed to accept this? No way! No freaking way!

 

"Oh man, don't cry, please don't cry. Look, I was kidding," 

 

_What._

 

Shion looked back at Nezumi and, through year-soaked eyes, Shion saw Nezumi smiling. Actually smiling. "The whole thing was made up. I'm okay, I promise."

 

Anger suddenly seized Shion's body, making his fists clench and his arms tremble, "Do you have any idea how much you scared me?!" he exclaimed before winding his good hand back and smacking it right into Nezumi's cast.

 

In seconds, both boys were cringing in pain, Nezumi clutching his leg, and Shion on the floor cradling his arm to his chest. In hindsight, hitting a cast with nothing but his fist hadn’t been his brightest idea.

 

"You're not as funny as you think you are," Shion mumbled into the floor.

 

"You know I am, but, um...I'm sorry. I just wanted to lighten the mood." Shion could swear he heard the smirk that was surely splayed across the other boy’s face/

 

"If I end up having to put a cast on this arm too, you're going to be in big trouble."

 

Nezumi chuckled, his face bemused, “You think you can put me in a worse condition than I’m already in?”

 

“Oh, just wait. You have no idea.” Shion got onto his feet, his eyes bearing down on Nezumi, an uncharacteristically playful expression crossing his face.

 

“Try me,” Nezumi’s voice was airy and challenging.

 

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Shion began to draw closer to Nezumi’s bed side step by step.

 

“Heh, I think I can handle it.”

 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” He was inches from Nezumi’s body.

 

“Do your worst, I’m right here.”

 

Shion leaned down and pressed his lips onto Nezumi’s. It was safe to say that he had lost himself to instinct since he would never normally flirt as openly as he had been. There was something about almost dying together that made Shion desperately need to be near Nezumi, to feel him, to make sure that he was still in one piece and that everything hadn’t just been a dream.

 

Nezumi’s arms reached up and began to explore Shion’s skin, first his cheeks, then his neck, back, and hair. They lightly grazed the surface, which made the ticklish Shion jerk and giggle.

 

When they pulled apart, Shion just stared into his soul mate’s eyes, the same eyes that had brought them together. “Are you really okay?” he asked as he ran a thumb across Nezumi’s cheek.

 

“I’m fine, really. All I have to worry about is my cast. And what about you?”

 

“I just woke up, but I assume that I’m in the same boat as you.”

 

“Good.”

 

Just then, Safu returned with Shion’s mom and a doctor in tow. Shion immediately let go of Nezumi and backed several paces away from the bed, his cheeks flushed. Shion recognized Safu and Karan, but the doctor was a new face. Middle-aged and tired-looking, the man had brown hair and brown eyes, a strange style of facial hair situated upon his face in a way that could only be intentional. Shion didn’t really get it, but he also wasn’t one to judge. The doctor had blue scrubs on with a white doctor’s coat over top.

 

Immediately after she entered the room, Shion’s mom enveloped him in a warm hug, tight enough to make him feel warm and secure. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her body as he buried his face into her neck, drinking up the scent of fresh bread and vanilla that always seemed to follow her around. He felt home.

 

“Tadaima,” he greeted, almost a whisper. _I’m home._

 

“Okairi,” she responded breathlessly, as if she’d run ten miles to get here. _Welcome back._

 

And just like that, everything was perfect. Well, _almost_ perfect. There was still the matter of the short brunette standing off to the side, shifting from foot to foot and looking rather out of place.

 

Shion let go of his mother and approached Safu with a neutral face.

 

“I’m glad that you’re okay.”

 

“Yeah, me too. I would’ve hated myself forever if I’d died without talking to you again.”

 

“…”

 

“I…I miss you, Safu,” he confessed. He scratched the back of his neck in that nervous way he did whenever he felt uncomfortable. “You’re my best friend and I was stupid for letting us stay apart over a fight.”

 

“I agree.”

 

“So…?” The unspoken question hung in the air. _Am I forgiven?_

 

“We’re not done talking about this, but I agree. I don’t know what I’d have done if you’d just…left without us…you know.” She was struggling for words, an almost unheard of event, but Shion knew that it meant that she was taking time choosing her words very carefully.

 

Shion smiled, “Permission to hug?”

 

“Permission granted.” Safu smiled softly as she allowed the white-haired male to wrap his arms around her.

 

“Seriously? Everyone else gets a hug and I got a punch to the leg? That’s hardly fair,” Nezumi commented with a grunt.

 

“That’s not all you got!” Shion interjected, his mind wandering back to their second kiss. He could feel his ears heating at the thought.

 

“You punched him?” the doctor piped up from the door, his eyebrow raised in a you’re-in-so-much-trouble kind of way. Shion grinned sheepishly.

 

The doctor sighed and Shion somehow knew that this was not the worst thing he’d heard that day, let alone in his entire medical career. “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear any of that and I’ll instead give you both the run-down on your conditions since you’re awake. I know I already told you this, Nezumi, but seeing as how you were hopped up on pain meds at the time, I’ll repeat myself just to be thorough.”

 

“Thanks, Doc.”

 

“To start off, I’m Dr. Rikiga, your assigned orthopedist.”

 

“Nice to meet you.” Shion said politely.

 

“Yes, quite.” The doctor said in a bored tone, “Anyway, as I was saying, you got off the best of the two of you, Shion. You have a concussion so mild that it’s barely even worth mentioning; I doubt it’ll give you any problems, but try to take it easy this week, okay?” Shion nodded. “Most noticeably is your arm. It only broke once and it was in a place that should heal fairly quickly, but it wasn’t as clean as Nezumi’s. Obviously, don’t try to do anything taxing like lift weights or do push-ups. If you come back in here with your arm screwed up because you thought I wasn’t serious when I said lay off the arm work outs, I won’t give you any more pain meds.”

 

Shion wondered what kind of whack-job patients the doctor had had to put up with in his past years.

 

“As for Nezumi, you’re a bit more complicated. You took most of the damage from the fall, but it’s nothing life-threatening. You have a concussion, but based on the cognitive tests we ran earlier, you’re not in any danger. We’ll perform another one before you leave, though. As for your leg…well, get used to that cast. You have two fractures, both clean, mind you, so that’s good. Your ankle also twisted since you fell in a not-so-good position, but we can worry about that later. Your cast should take care of everything, but we won’t know about future problems until later.”

 

Nezumi stayed silent.

 

“I’ve been told that you ride a motorcycle, is that correct?”

 

Nezumi grunted a confirmation.

 

The doctor took a clipboard off of the wall and started checking things off. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out, but I’m required to tell you that riding it is off-limits until I or another orthopedist tells you that you can. Do I make myself clear?”

 

Another grunt.

 

Dr. Rikiga checked another thing off of his clipboard. “Good, then do you have someone who can take you home?”

 

“My parents are out of town on business.”

 

“You’re living alone?” Karan asked, concern written on her face.

 

“Yeah, but it’s no big deal, I can take care of myself,” replied Nezumi nonchalantly.

 

“I can’t allow someone with a broken leg to take care of himself alone!”

 

“Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine. Seriously.”

 

“I hate to break it to you, Lone Ranger, but you can’t leave here without a parent or guardian.” Dr. Rikiga said in a bored voice, his eyes not even leaving his clipboard.

 

Karan smiled. “I would be happy to take care of you until your parents return.”

 

“…”

 

“She’s your best bet, kiddo. That is, unless you’d rather be stuck here with nothing except nasty food and horrible lighting to keep you company.”

 

With a sigh, Nezumi relented, “Fine, I’ll go along with you.”

 

Karan smiled, “Good. Then after we’re done here, we’ll go by your house to pick up everything you’ll need. Does that sound good to you?”

 

“Yeah. And Ms. Karan?”

 

“Just Karan is fine,” the woman said sweetly.

 

“Thank you for all of this, Ms. Karan.”

 

Karan chuckled, “Anything for my son’s soul mate.”

 

Now that Shion thought of it, Shion had never properly introduced Nezumi and his mom. He’d have to do that some time during Nezumi’s stay. Speaking of, Nezumi would be staying over with him! The thought was exciting and scary at the same time. They said living together with he person you love was the fastest way to scare them off. Shion didn’t want that! What if he accidentally grossed Nezumi out with a habit of his? He couldn’t particularly think of one that was gross, but what did he know? The following days were about to get a whole lot more complicated.

 

* * *

 

The hours after Shion woke up felt rushed and hectic. The nurses kept telling him to get some rest, yet they kept waking him up to check his vitals. It was rather maddening.

 

Once he realized that he wouldn’t be getting more than five minutes of shuteye, Shion decided to keep Nezumi company. Even though they’d pushed back the curtain that split the room in half, Nezumi still felt so far away.

 

When Shion pulled up a chair by Nezumi’s bed, the other boy had been reading a copy of _Othello_ that one of the books had just so happened to have that day. He put a straw wrapper in the book to mark his place and closed it when he noticed Shion. “Bored already?”

 

"Let's do something fun!" Shion suggested with an innocent grin.

 

“Guess you are.”

 

Shion fumbled in his pockets for a while before he removed a black Sharpie that he may or may not have swiped from the nurse’s station. He was practically a rebel.

 

Nezumi, dubious as ever, couldn’t help but comment on the sudden introduction of a Sharpie. "I don't know if 'fun' and 'Sharpie' can exist in the same sentence."

 

"Sure they can! Look, here's what we'll do. Each of us thinks of a phrase to put on the other person's cast. The catch is we put it somewhere the other can't see, so we only learn what it says when we remove our cast. Fun, right?"

 

"I guess so," Nezumi relented. He rather liked the idea of knowing something that Shion didn't. "Why not."

 

They both took a couple of minutes to think of something to write. Nezumi wrote his note on the underside of Shion's arm, just below his shoulder. Shion in turn wrote his on the underside of Nezumi's knee, right where it would bend if not for the cast. He smiled at his handiwork and capped the permanent marker.

 

Already Shion’s mind was spinning just thinking about what Nezumi might've written. Was it simple or elaborate? How many words dos he use? What was the tone? Shion just wished his stupid arm would heal already.

 

* * *

 

After evaluations from two different doctors and lectures from both, Shion and Nezumi were allowed to leave the hospital. Shion was more than a little relieved about this. Hospitals, as he'd learned from his stay, were unbearably suffocating. With all of the constant check-ups, medicines he had to choke down, and visits from loved ones, Shion was worn out. Not to say that he was ungrateful of any of that, of course he was happy that he'd been taken care of, but he was beyond tired at this point. Getting home and finally getting some alone time had been a thing to look forward to since he'd woken up.

 

The two boys stood side-by-side in the elevator bay, waiting for the elevator to arrive. Their rooms had been pretty high up- the 7th floor- so it' would take awhile for the elevator to reach where they were.

 

Once again, Shion was feeling the awkward weight that could only be the product of pure, unadulterated silence- his most formidable enemy these days.

 

“Hey, Nezumi?” Shion started. He wasn’t exactly sure how to go about speaking, but he _did_ know that he didn’t want to continue the silence.

 

“Mmm?”

 

“I wanted to talk to you about what you…what you said on the balloon.” His face was starting to tingle with growing heat and his eyes instinctively cast downwards to study the boring white floor tiles.

 

“About that…” Just then, the elevator arrived, doors opening, beckoning. “We’ll talk about this some other time,” said Nezumi before gripping his crutches and hobbling into the elevator.

 

Shion followed suit, half disappointed for not getting an answer, and half relieved to being spared from dealing with something unknown.

 

They would’ve been in danger of yet another silence if not for the elevator’s speakers crackling to life. A few guitar chords floated from the crappy speakers, sounding like they were being played from within a tin can. After a couple of beats, a young man started to sing.

 

♪ When your legs don't work like they used to before… ♪

 

A smile appeared on Shion's face as he noted the irony of the song. It was a smile that was small enough to go unnoticed to anyone who was not looking for it. Unfortunately for Shion, Nezumi _was_ looking for such a smile and immediately hit him with his best glare.

 

"No." Nezumi warned, his voice saying that he wasn't opposed to using his crutches to break Shion's other arm.

 

"No what? I haven’t done anything." Shion replied sweetly. He was playing coy, but his mouth was slowly beginning to tilt up.

 

"You know what." Nezumi shot back. Shion could actually _hear_ the glare that was on Nezumi's face.

 

Shion bit his bottom lip while somehow still managing to smile in an attempt to stop himself from laughing. Slowly, the boy moved his eyes upward to meet Nezumi's, black on red, an epic stare down in the making.

 

Nezumi's face was saying no, but Shion's smile was saying yes; he began to grin, pre-giggles shaking his chest.

 

"Don't you fucking dare." said Nezumi, voice chilled and angry.

 

But it was too late. Right as the elevator reached the bottom floor, the last of Shion’s restraints snapped and a bout of uncontrollable laughter spilled into the lobby. His shoulders bounced up and down, up and down, to the point where his injured arm began to ache. “Nezumi, it’s your song! It’s like it was written for you!”

 

Shion looked up at Nezumi and was faced with a glare he was pretty sure was capable of striking him dead on the spot. Flight winning over fight, Shion he took off into a sprint, leaving dust behind in his wake.

 

 _He's going to kill me if he catches me,_ Shion thought as he narrowly avoided tripping over a poorly-placed wheelchair.

 

“I’m gonna kill you!” echoed Nezumi from the elevator; Shion could tell he was _pissed._ Which said a lot because frankly, Nezumi got pissed a lot. However, Shion wasn’t curious enough to stick around and determine just how pissed Nezumi was. His laugh still bubbled from his throat, filling the hospital lobby with its happy sound.

 

Shion was in the front lobby by now and he could see his mom parked in front of the hospital. If he could just make it to the car without being caught, he'd be safe. Sure, they were going to ride in the same car, but Shion knew that even Nezumi wasn’t brave enough to try something while in Karen’s presence. He’d still have to explain to his mom why he was running, though…

 

Now that he thought about it, why was he running? It wasn’t like Nezumi was capable of actually catching him with that broken leg of his. He was probably exiting the elevator now, hobbling pathetically after Shion. Heck, compared to Nezumi, Shion felt like an Olympic runner.

 

 _I_ _’ll take my gold medal now._

 

His laughter faltered when he looked behind him to see Nezumi _actually chasing after him_. He was still using his crutches, of course, but he clearly wasn’t letting that stop him seeing as he was hitting about the same speed as one of those scooters that old people used to get around.

 

Shion had never seen someone go so fast on crutches. The sight itself was enough to cause a wave of fear to wash over Shion’s body, complete with about an army of goose bumps along both of his arms. That didn’t stop him from laughing, though he kinda wished it did because his sides were starting to hurt.

 

God, was running always this hard? He was beginning to run out of breath, his chest heaving and his inhales becoming ragged. Guess this was karma for studying all the time instead of exercising, though he wouldn’t need to run for much longer because his goal was fast approaching.

 

Ahead, the automatic doors opened with a silent flourish. It was as if the gates of heaven itself had opened up for him; Shion could swear he heard angels singing the song of freedom.

 

He was getting closer to these same doors when multiple ambulances pulled up to the hospital. Normally this wouldn’t be worth mentioning since it was a typical occurrence for the hospital, however this particular time was different. Shion had been intending the use the automatic doors as his method of escape, the same automatic doors that had suddenly become occupied with an army of gurneys. The front lobby had turned into a current of wheeled patients, leaving Shion with no other choice but to use the other, non-automatic doors that were situated off to the sides.

 

Shion didn’t have time to change course and found himself stuck trying to navigate the sea of people. He had never even heard of this many people coming to the hospital at one time! Why did he have to have such awful luck?

 

He looked back; Nezumi was closing in at an alarming rate. Shion was out of time. In a last chance surge of will, Shion made it to the open doors, fresh air hitting his face in a glorious rush.

 

It smelled like freedom.

 

He stepped outside and started to walk to his mom’s car only to be yanked back from behind.

 

_Oh no._

 

“Hey there, Shion,” said Nezumi, his voice cold enough to instantly induce frostbite.

 

“H-hey there, Nezumi,” the smaller boy replied nervously.

 

“You must think you’re really funny, huh?”

 

“N-not really, I just-“

 

“Boys!” called Karen, “What’re you doing? We don’t have all day!”

 

“Coming mom!” Shion called back, suddenly incredibly thankful for his mom.

 

Left with no other choice, Nezumi let Shion go and followed him to the car. Shion sat in front because he knew Nezumi would try to mess with him if he sat in the back. He could feel two glaring eyes bearing holes into the back of his head from the back of the car.

 

"Let's listen to some music," Karan suggested as she turned on the radio.

 

♪When your legs don't work like they used to before. And I can't sweep you off of your feet♪

 

"I love this song," Karan confessed, humming the melody while she drove.

 

A giggle escaped from Shion's lips, "I love it too, mama. Nezumi does too. In fact, he was just telling me how much he loves it!"

 

Shion could just barely make out Nezumi's quiet, "Shut up, Shion" from the back of the car.

 

One point for Shion.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, after Nezumi had packed a bag and settled into Shion’s house, Shion looked back at the pictures he’s taken. One was from the hot air balloon ride before everything had gone crazy. Both of them had been in the picture, a rare occurrence due to Shion’s detest for “selfies”. However, despite all of that, Shion was extremely pleased with the picture. They just looked so _happy_ , Nezumi smiling in that reserved way of his and Shion grinning like a fool, the incredible sunset illuminating their faces. He wrote the date and occasion on the back with a marker and filed it away with the rest.

 

Then there was the couple he’d taken while at the hospital. Nezumi’s sour expression when he’d noticed the cast, Nezumi holding the Sharpie before writing a message on Shion’s cast, Nezumi giving Shion a pissed yet oddly amused glare from the back seat of the car. He looked at these for a little longer, taking the time to memorize every crease, every shadow, every patch of skin before marking the dates and putting them all away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is a dork in this chapter. Actually, everyone is a dork in this fic XD
> 
> Big thanks to @GalaxiesAndRainbows for helping inspire the elevator scene. What started out as a really bad joke has actually turned into something that happened! Who would've thunk?
> 
> EDIT: I'm just now realizing how awful I've been at replying to comments. I've read each of them, but I haven't replied to them and for that I apologize! I'll try to do better with that from now on :)


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